The King of the Deck
by Mitsuki Horenake
Summary: Deep in the world of Gairan, there exist four kingdoms living in perfect harmony. Unfortunately, someone wants to destroy that harmony for reasons unknown. With that in mind, the King of Hearts sends his best man to warn the other kingdoms of the upcoming attack. Fun story, turns out his older sister has to do it instead!
1. Starting the Quest

**I was reading one of my old fanfictions and I got the fantasy bug back in my system. Yep, I'm going to write another fantasy fanfic. Some of you probably saw another one of mine, but I ended up giving up in the beginning. Horrible, really. But whatever. I was trying not to do so, but after a while I gave up. So there will be OCs in here. So much for RPG Maker, huh? But that means that I'll be able to include your OCs as well! Awesomeness! **_***Details below***_

**The main characters **_**(well, something like this)**_** will be the Philippine twins. I'll try not to focus too much on Charice **_**(I already have **__**Persona Powers**__** to do that)**_**, but just because Rizal needs the love. There were Rizal fans out there? Dang.**

**I do not own Axis Powers Hetalia or any accepted OCs. I only own the twins…and apparently the plot. Maybe.**

**Oh, and for those of you who get extremely confused early, take a glance into Artalia. You'll get it there.**

**/=+=/**

_Once upon a time, there was a planet known as Gairan. Rich with life and opportunity, four kingdoms emerged from the lands. Each kingdom is run by the King and Queen, the king's valet being the faithful Jack, this trio forming what is known as the "hand". Underneath them are the noble families of the kingdom, led only by the king and live with pure honor._

_The main continent houses the kingdom of Spades. Led by the youngest king and the wisest hand, the Spade kingdom has become one of the most scientifically and technologically advanced societies in the world. Their goal is to find the peaceful harmony between the realm of magic and the realm of machines, and so far the nobles in charge of that have been doing quite well with that vow._

_The second largest continent is the mysterious kingdom of Clubs. Unlike the Spades, the Club kingdom is filled with rich wildlife and surrounded by mystery. The hand of the kingdom is just as mysterious as the legends surrounding the area, led by a king that is said to be colder than the warmth that the land emits. Rumors have it that those who live in the Clubs are not particularly human, and as such the Clubs and Spades have increased tension._

_Between the Spades and Clubs is the kingdom of Diamonds, known to be the oldest kingdom in existence. Once the strongest empire in existence, it has now been downgraded to a constitutional monarchy, their existence now one of nostalgia. The hand of the kingdom prefers to be neutral in many events, and because of that they have known to house many refugees during the war times._

_Among the boarders of the Spade kingdom lays the kingdom of Hearts, the youngest of the kingdoms to be created. The inhabitants of this continent are mainly people who have grown tired with the tension between the Spades and Clubs but could not find any refuge in the Diamond kingdom. Upon the creation of the Treaty of Creation, the Heart kingdom was established in an old island that used to be that of the Diamond's. As such, the Hearts and Diamonds have a mutual treaty between the two hands._

_This story starts in the modern day, when the Jack of Spades offered a treaty to the king of Hearts: the inclusion of a queen._

**/=+=/**

Charice wandered back into the village as the ships started to pull into the harbor. After a bit of hunting, she couldn't help but be grateful that she decided to come back early. Still, if she was paying attention to anything that her brother was saying, she'd still have no clue what was going on.

"He's here, he's here!" She heard voices echo out. "The new Queen of Hearts is here!"

"I can't wait to see him!"

"Isn't he related to the Jack of Spades or something?"

"Yeah, that's what I heard…he still has his own valet too!"

"Guess the King of Hearts is going to be stuck with his ol' Jack, huh?"

Charice blinked for a few minutes before walking forward, wondering what the hell is going on. She couldn't crawl through the crowds and god forbid she has to start climbing up walls and houses. Instead, she gave up and started heading around the crowd; maybe they'll be a gap around here. The only problem is that all she could hear was the cry of an older man commanding the army and trying to move everyone out of the way for the entourage to get into the carriage toward the kingdom.

_That's my brother…_ She sighed. _Serious as always._

The crowds started to disperse as the entourage started climbing into their carriages, and she noticed that there was something on the ground when the doors closed: a silk ribbon with many flower pins attached to it. Without even thinking, Charice picked it up and examined it. The silk was of the highest quality, the pins made of solid Armagite and white marble, and she grinned. Despite the fact that this was definitely an expensive creation, they resorted to cheap metals for their outfits.

Speaking of the entourage…

She looked up and saw with shock as the carriages started to head away. Normally, she would have just turned away and waited for Rizal to come to their house so that she would tell him what she had and asked that he would return it to whoever the heck owned it _(hopefully, this was a woman's)._ But seeing as if there's a foreign group in the kingdom and seeing that he might have to stay over…

Charice didn't even start thinking. Five seconds later, she started chasing after the hastened carriage and clung onto the bars of the back, hanging on for dear life as the group started heading up the hills toward the kingdom. At the edge of town, she could hear the barkeep laughing again.

"Wahahahaha! Chasing after someone again?" He called.

"Just trying to return something!" She answered.

"All right; just don't get arrested like the last time!"

"Yeah yeah, rub it in why don't you? Hey, if you see Antonio, tell him I said hi!"

"Sure can do! Now watch yourself!"

"Yeah yeah, save your tongue from repetition!" _At least everyone's used to this by now…_

The road started getting bumpy, making her jump up and down and realize that tying the ribbon to the back of the carriage was not going to guarantee that it stays. She would slap her face if she had the arm space to. The last time she did this, she got arrested and Rizal had to bail her out. Again. Hopefully, the new entourage would be a lot more…willing to forgive.

With a deep breath, she swung up to the side of the carriage she was on and clung onto the door _(not the door handle…she didn't want to remember the last time that happened)_. With her other arm, she forced herself forward and started knocking on it. Instantly, the curtain covering the window opened up and there was a face on the other side. It was that of a man with brown eyes and light black hair…if that was even a color.

"What the hell are you doing?" The man asked. He sounded quite young for the intimidating side.

"I just have a question!" She answered, lifting up the ribbon in her hand. "Does anyone on this carriage own this ribbon at all?"

"…yes, they do." He sounded surprised. "That is one of ours!"

"All right."

***awkward silence***

"So, uh…do you want me to give it to you? Tie it up somewhere? Stay here until we stop, what?"

"Eh? You're not going to force yourself in?"

"Uh…I-I'll do so only if you ask me to jump off the carriage. There's a cliff right behind me and I am **not** jumping into it." She thought for a few seconds. "Don't worry; I dusted off my shoes and cleaned them before I jumped on! I'm more than willing to polish anything I tarnish!"

There was an awkward silence and some low muttering in a strange language from inside the carriage, making her wonder just how in the world she was hanging on in the first place. She was about to contemplate just climbing over the carriage to the other side when the door swung open and the man looked at her, gesturing her to jump in. She didn't know why, but she followed orders.

After she climbed in, she saw the inside of the carriage. To her surprise, it wasn't one of those blue velvet things imported from the Spades; it was one of those really new-looking Heart carriages _(they're all white on the outside; how was she supposed to know?)_. Two figures were in the carriage; one being the man she was talking to, bearing the robes of a Spade noble and having a curl _(which I swear to God had a face in it)_, and the other one being a soft-mannered man wearing red robes that still looked like that of a Spade culture. Charice climbed to the other side and lifted up the ribbon.

"Sooooo…who am I leaving this with?"

"Pardon?" The other man asked. His voice was extremely gentle and noble…weird, really.

"You let me in, right? Which means I'm leaving this with one of you and jumping out this door." She gestured behind her. "I'm just trying to return something, not trying to hitchhike or anything."

"No, we do not mind." The man smiled. He was different from the other guy. "You are related to Rizal-san, are you not?"

"Hah…? How'd you know him?"

"The king ensured me that he was one of his greatest knights, and he in turn sent me a letter talking about his sister…a warning, he said it was." The robed man lifted a letter. "If the description serves me correctly, you must be the older sister of this knight…Charice, am I right?"

That's when she realized whose carriage she jumped into.

_Oh __COME ON!__ It couldn't have been the noble's carriage! Why didn't I jump on __**theirs?**_ "Oh…you're the new Queen, aren't you?"

"Yes. I am the Queen of Hearts."

"…ohhhh…shit." Charice blinked. "…uuhhhh…I'm just going to…leave this here and…_go…now…"_

"Why?" He looked curious.

"…cause last time I accidentally jumped on a carriage I got arrested." She sighed. "For the same reason, too. Poor Lukas didn't see me coming."

"Well, I'll make sure that you won't." The Queen smiled. "Sit next to my valet. I'm sure your legs are dying at this point."

"But Kiku-san-" The valet blinked. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, you sure about this?" Charice blinked. "I'm the one that broke in and _**I'm**_ agreeing with him!"

"I insist. Besides, if you try anything, Yong Soo will be there to hurt you."

"…yeah, that's true."

Charice blinked for a few more minutes _(sure is a lot of blinking, huh?)_ before hesitantly sitting next to the valet Yong Soo and looking out the window. There were a few more tense minutes as the carriage rolled up the hill toward the castle before she started looking in her bag.

"Is there something you're looking for?" The Queen asked.

"Just making sure everything I got is in here. Guy in the city asked me to get something and I was just about to hand it over to him when I met up with you guys." She sighed. "Yep, there it is."

"Errand girl?" Yong Soo blinked.

"It's a good income." She answered. "Keeps up the adrenaline rush and has good pay. I'm planning on exploring the world, you know."

"And the reason why you're still here?"

"Rizal keeps me back sometimes, and I still don't have enough money." Charice waved her hand. "Most of what I get ends up being able to pay for food and stuff."

"That's pathetic."

"Don't rub it in…Yong Soo, right? At least you get money…or at the very least a decent roof over your head."

"If that is the case, why don't you join the army with your brother?" The Queen asked.

"I'm not one to wear armor and that heavy stuff. Besides, armies usually go around for war. I just want to go around for the sake of going around." Charice grinned. "The capital city of the Diamond kingdom has food that almost rivals the Jack of Hearts, you know!"

"I am aware of that." He answered. "I've eaten there before."

"_**And?"**_

"…I haven't eaten any of the food here, so I can't compare just yet."

"_**DAAAMMMMMIIIIITTTT!**_ And here I thought I was going to get an answer to thaaaat!" She sighed. _"Forget it; I'm gonna have to wait for Antonio then…"_

The Queen giggled as he looked out the window, smiling at something. Charice blinked for a few minutes before turning her head out the window and seeing the final destination: the gigantic castle that sparkles white and red with marble and rubies. She couldn't help but think there were more hearts painted on it.

_The Jack's been going rabid again…_

**/=+=/**

**I might drop this if I start losing ideas…**

**Anyway, OC rules. Anything goes: nations, providences, cities, states, heck even ordinary human people! So if you have an OC from another fanbase, submit it over! I just need a name, gender, status **_**(nation, human, etc)**_**, and an age. If you want a physical description and a personality attached, why not send it in! Maximum two OCs per review, AND DON'T TRY TO ABUSE THE ANONYMS. The last thing I need is a swarm of the same person trying to submit five or something under the same name.**

**These are the places I need OCs for:**

**Simple maids and butlers**

**Townspeople**

**Antonio's Pirate Crew**

**Other people's pirate crews**

**Part of the Magistrate**

**Bad guys**

**Etc.**

**Or if you don't care for OCs, send a review~!**


	2. The Queen is Here!

**Hey, uh…I actually never quite mentioned that you guys didn't have to exclusively mention what characters would be with what…I'm just hoping that you guys are here for the story and not for a cameo shot. Whatever, let's go~**

**/=+=/**

The castle never ceased to surprise her as the carriage slowed into a stop. Charice couldn't help but wonder if this was just a work in progress _(the kingdom was still fairly new, of course)_ as the doors slowly started to swing open…making her realize that she wasn't supposed to be here.

"…uhhhhhh…"

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you're not arrested."

"Sure thing, my queen…" _Lot of help that's going to be._

Charice contemplated jumping out of the other end before giving up and heading out with the other two. Almost instantly someone from the other carriage started yelling in some language and people from the castle starting to point spears at her. She started crying at this point.

"No please…stay back." Kiku lifted up his hand. "She was here only to return something."

"…_yeah…returning this…"_ She lifted up the ribbon. "…went on wrong carriage…and stuff."

"Oh…t-that's mine." A woman came out of the crowd. She had a beautiful pink dress and the most gorgeous looking hair in the world. "I was wondering where I lost that."

"It fell out of the carriage." Charice chuckled nervously. "All right…now that that's settled…I'll…_beonmywaynow-"_

The guards lifted their blades, not allowing her to do that and making her openly whine about it. No matter what the newly made Queen was saying, none of the guards were moving. While Charice found this to be rather annoying, she couldn't help but feel happy about it. It meant that these guys were definitely on their guard, and the hand was safe.

"Wait, I know that voice…are you causing trouble again, Charice?"

Everyone looked up to see a man walking toward them. He was wearing a black uniform bearing the crest of the kingdom, a clip of the sun on the right side of his head. The minute he made eye contact with the others, the soldiers stood down.

"General." They saluted.

"Stand down. She's with me."

"A-as you wish, sire."

"Thank you." He turned toward the girl all dressed up in her hunting outfit. "Charice, what are you doing this time? Jumping into carriages might've been fine before, but not when the Queen is here!"

"No please…it's all right. She was trying to return something." Kiku stepped forward. "The ribbon that Lin Yi had lost."

"…what if she was an assassin or a distraction for a takeover?"

"_**HEY!"**_

"Then I would handle it my way." He answered. "Just because I am a queen does not mean that I do not know how to defend myself. Besides, she was obviously your sister."

"How? I never told you her name."

"I have my ways…now then, am I to meet with the hand soon?"

"Right…I'm sorry. This way." Rizal looked up. "Charice, just wait around the castle until I send an escort to take you home."

"Aww…why?"

"Because the last thing I need is for you to be around the Jack of Hearts again." He was already getting the castle inhabitants inside. "We all know what happened then."

"No no no, I mean why do I need an escort? I've been going up and down this road to visit you for so long that I know where I'm going!"

"I suggest you don't. The monsters around the castle are starting to get agitated for some reason."

"Eh? Why's that? I just went hunting a few hours ago and I'm just fine!"

"That's what I mean: just around this building."

Charice stared at him for a few minutes before Rizal disappeared into the castle, forcing her to reconsider her thoughts at just head toward the side of the mansion entrance. The least she could do was comply with her younger brother at the time: sword beats poleaxe at this point.

**/=+=/**

The life at the mansion continued on as always as Charice wandered through it. Butlers and maids were constantly running around trying to get all the chefs ready for the first dinner _(which she won't be invited in because of her commoner looking outfit, whoop de doo)_, architects were setting up curtains in places where she had never seen anything like cloth before…and there seemed to be an overuse of Armagite everywhere.

…_what…the…heck…_

She looked up and noticed that there was a blond maid staring at a few soldiers talking to themselves as they stood on duty to protect the Queen from outside forces. After a few minutes of just oodling, Charice decided that the only thing worth doing was to bop her on the head.

"**Ow!"**

"Lucrezia, I thought you should be focusing on your duties!"

"Charice…you don't have to hit that hard…I just wanted to get a first glimpse at the Queen!"

"You having a bet with the maids again?"

"I seriously think it's going to be a man. All the others say that it's going to be a woman."

"You win the bet. It's a man."

"Seriously? You saw him?"

"Yeah…he's around some other nobles, so I don't go ahead and question it." Charice waved her hand around. "Shouldn't you be going around helping the other butlers or something?"

"Yeah, but…look at them, Charice. The soldiers look…_**dashing."**_

"…most of them are douches." She answered. "Good soldiers…but douchebags."

"But they're so beautiful…"

"Fine…I'll give you that."

"_**Shouldn't you be helping the butlers out, Miss Rosenfeld?"**_

The two of them froze and turned around, seeing a young man with combed back blond hair and icy blue eyes shooting right back at them. It didn't take long for them to realize who it was: it was Ludwig Katherzig, the King of Hearts…in all his intimidating form.

The two of them started screaming and running off in different directions.

**/=+=/**

_God, I can't handle being around King Katherzig…too freaking intimidating…_

She took a deep breath and stood in one of the many lobbies of the area. As she turned her head, she couldn't help but notice a figure standing a few feet away from her, reading a book. He was wearing a fashionable coat and uniform that looked like a nobleman. As she passed him by, he had a fragile look on his frame and was reading something in a language she couldn't read. It freaked her out, and she went to head out.

"Are you Charice Pacquiao?"

She froze and turned around, seeing that the man was in fact talking to her. He had closed the book in his hand and was now looking straight at her. He didn't look too out of the ordinary; his eyes were a normal brown instead of…freakish colors. Still, she had a scream that could make a deaf person hear it, so…

"…yeah…hey look, I can't take up offers. Even if I can refuse them."

"No, I'm not trying to give you an offer…" He laughed. "He did mention that you were a little edgy."

"…you mean my brother?" She blinked. "So you're…"

"My name is Roderich Edelstein." He smiled. "Your brother asked me to escort you back to the city."

**/=+=/**

**Sooo…Roderich Edelstein.**


	3. Heading Back Home?

**All right, I was just wondering of you guys. All the reviews had an OC attached, so I couldn't help but wonder. Don't ask, I'm weird like that.**

**/=+=/**

"So…you're the escort…"

"Are you uncomfortable with me taking you back?"

"No…I'm just wondering if Rizal chose you because he thought I'd get lost." Charice blinked. "You don't look like much of a fighter."

"Well, he wanted someone else to escort but no one was available at the time. So he decided that he might as well choose me." Roderich nodded. "So when are we going?"

"Well, _**personally**_ I wanted to talk to my brother before I left, but…"

"He's in a meeting with the hand, of course." He brought up. "Rizal informed me that he preferred that you leave before you see the Jack of Hearts."

"…and where is the Jack of Hearts?"

"That I don't know."

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"Fine, let's go."

**/=+=/**

The two of them quietly left the castle and headed down the pathway toward the gates. They had been closed when Kiku came in, she recalled, and with what Rizal had been telling her she knew why. Roderich was telling the guards to open the gate when Charice decided to take a look around. The place looked rather beautiful every time she came here: with the gardens and fountains, filled with a lot of love. Geez, this kingdom and love. Sometimes there would be too much of it.

"Come on, Charice. We have to hurry before it gets dark."

"Sure, sure…" She could just come for a visit later.

The two of them started walking down the path as the gates closed behind them, a tense silence coming up between them. She decided to take the opportunity to look at him. He really did look young for his age, with his glasses and his noble coat and all that make-up and stuff. In fact, it was hard to guess his age. She wanted to say early twenties, but then again she had to throw in late teens just to be safe. Heck, he could be forty for all she knew. A realm filled with magical beings seemed to have a really great effect on the factor of aging…

"So you're the older sister of a general?"

"Eh? Why, yes I am." She beamed. "I'm so proud of my brother."

"Aren't generals usually of noble lineage?"

"I think it's only in the other kingdoms. Here, the king does it by experience. Heck, the King of Hearts was a general himself…I think. He definitely has that _"soldier look"_ on him all the time…"

"I see…how old is your brother, anyway? He looks too young to be a general."

"He's sixteen."

"That's way too young to be a general."

"No it's not! Besides, Rizal's one of the best guys the kingdom has. The whole hand trusts him."

"Even the Jack of Hearts, the one that is supposed to be the King's faithful valet?"

"Oh hell yeah. Then again, the Jack trusts everyone!"

"You don't call him by his real name?"

"Eh?"

"Seeing as how your brother and the Jack are good friends, perhaps you are allowed to call him by casual titles?"

"…nah. The Jack gives him more credentials. His real name just makes him sound- where the hell are we?"

Roderich looked up and realized that they were in the middle of the woods, with no sign of a city street or even a random person walking around wondering what the heck they were doing. The young man looked back at Charice with a blank look on his face, and she had to stare at him for a few minutes.

"…don't tell me we're lost."

"…I think we're lost."

"_**GOD DAMMIT!"**_ She started mumbling something to herself. "Ugh…_I'll be right back…"_

With that statement, she went and climbed up one of the trees and left him on the ground. She looked up and saw the castle shining just a few feet away, making her grin and look back down. Of course, the tree was way too wide for her to see the ground, but heck he wasn't wandering away.

"Good news! I know where we are!"

"Do you now?" The voice echoed from below.

"Yep! We just have to go west from here. We'll hit the city in no time!"

"Well…that's good…"

He didn't sound happy, so Charice decided to climb down. Instead, she saw him standing at the base of the tree, surrounded by wolves with glowing red eyes. She didn't hesitate with grabbing her poleaxe and dropping down to his level, making him jump in surprise.

"C-Charice…"

"Relax. I know how to handle these guys." She grinned. "I had to hunt them for my latest mission!"

"Are you…?"

"I had a whole pack against me! I'll be fine! Just stand back and let my poleaxe do the talking!"

She charged forward and started attacking all of the wolves, surprising Roderich at just how smooth she was handling the monsters outside her hometown. After they were gone, she chuckled at how the remaining ones were running away, leaving behind nothing but pure whimpers…and what looked like herbs.

"I never got that…they always seem to drop herbs when you beat them." Charice lifted the leaf up. "I mean, the weirdest thing I've seen these guys drop is money. Now where the heck do they get the money to drop? It makes no sense, don't you th-?"

She turned her head and saw that one of the wolves was charging up right behind her. Charice swung her poleaxe up, ready to counter, when she heard a sharp note on what sounded like a violin. For some reason, the sound of that alone threw the wolf to the side. She turned her head and saw that Roderich's arms were glowing strange glyphs, and that there was a violin in his hand that was glowing the same color as the glyphs. They seemed to look like notes on a musical chart.

"Let me help you just a little bit."

He turned his head and continued to play a melody that she didn't know, somehow knocking the wolf back until he fled for mercy as well. After a few tense moment Roderich sighed and lowered his arms, the instrument vanishing along with the glyph. She had to admit, he looked…_**majestic**_ in what he was doing. Almost as if he wasn't human…

"OK, you can do that, but you can't find your way out of a forest?"

"I just saved you, Charice. Try not to be disrespectful."

"I'm not…I'm just curious…" She grinned. "Anyway, let's just go that way…"

"V-ve…i-is that y-you?"

They both turned their heads to see the Jack of Hearts standing a few feet away from them, looking lost and wearing his red uniform. He was holding a huge flag, dirty from wandering around for too long, and he was surprised that he was looking at them. At his visual, Charice's eyes lightened up.

"Feli-chan!"

"W-wah! Oh, i-it is y-y-you…" He smiled. "H-hi Charice…"

"The Jack of Hearts?" Roderich blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"E-eh? D-do I k-know you?"

"He was in the castle, remember? Or was Roderich dodging you the entire time?" Charice laughed. "Well, whatever. Feliciano, this is Roderich Edelstein, my 'escort'. Roderich, this is the Jack of Hearts."

"H-hi…"

"Don't mind the stammer. He speaks a different language and stammers when he's speaking ours." She chirped. "It's cute."

"V-ve…d-don't m-mock me…"

"I'm not mocking you! I'm just pointing it out! By the way, what are you doing out of the castle? Shouldn't you be meeting with the Queen?"

"W-well, I…I-I was sup-p-p-posed to m-meet with h-him…b-but then I g-got lost…" He cleared his throat. "I-I know w-where to look…s-so I don't h-have to…w-w-worry…"

"Well, we can't have you wandering alone like this!" Charice turned to Roderich. "Come on, man! We're going to have to go back!"

"…back to the castle?"

"Duh! We can't let the poor boy wander around alone, right?"

"C-Charice…"

Something exploded behind them, making the three of them jump. Charice quickly started climbing up the tree and went to the top of the branches, seeing with shock that there was smoke coming out of the side of the castle. She almost screamed, but instead slid all the way down the tree and crashed head first.

"_**OW **_son of a-"

"W-w-what's wrong, Charice?"

"Smoke's coming out of the castle…" She answered. "That's all I know."

"T-the castle m-must be under a-attack!" Feliciano panicked.

"_Shit…"_ Roderich turned his head. "We have to go back…"

"OK, you get lost when you do that." Charice pointed at them. "Follow me. I know how to get back to the main road!"

**/=+=/**

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**Why in the world did I give Feliciano a stutter? Part of me actually thought it was going to be cute -_-"**

**If opposition comes, I have a way to get rid of it…seriously, I do.**


	4. The Castle Siege

They were running as fast as they could, following Charice until they saw a cliff in front of them, signaling the main road. She threw Roderich up top before she and Feliciano climbed up the rocks, heading down the road and seeing the smoke reach higher and higher up into the sky. She couldn't help but be worried; if they were too late, this whole thing could start a war…

"We can't enter through the front." Roderich stated. "If the invaders are there, we could run straight into them."

"True…" She turned to them. "Who's up for climbing over the sides?"

"T-that seems…l-like a good thing."

Charice led them to one of the side walls off the main entrance and saw as nobles were being escorted out through a secret exit. They were watching them for a few minutes before realizing that Ludwig nor Kiku were among them. Feliciano started mumbling a strange language to himself, and he sounded worried.

"Who's up for sneaking in the side door?"

"That would be…less strenuous then actually climbing." Roderich nodded. "Feliciano?"

"…y-yes…"

"All right then…"

The three of them snuck through the huge crowd and headed inside, seeing a lot of the knights slashing through the monsters that were inside. Charice looked around and realized that the monsters were of a strange form: that of purple clouds that have a physical shape. Feliciano was shivering at their appearance.

"W-what…what in t-the world…?"

"The soldiers don't stand a chance…" Roderich turned his head. "Those clouds are multiplying…"

"Screw that! I've fought them before!"

"Eh?"

Charice charged forward and started slashing through all of the clouds, her poleaxe mysteriously glowing the entire time. Feliciano decided that he might as well do the same thing, going up to one of the cloud monsters attacking a knight and bashed him hard with the flag in his hand. She turned around and watched as Feliciano was able to quickly take it down, but then he froze in place, his eyes dead.

"Feli?"

"…v-ve?" He looked around. "W-where am I…?"

"Hah? Feliciano, you're in the castle! Castle of Hearts, remember?"

"…uh…y-yeah…I-I remember…now…" He started rubbing the back of his head. "W-why couldn't I…?"

"The monsters…"

"Eh? **Hey!** Roderich, where are you going?"

"Find the hand! I'll take care of myself!"

With that note, he ran further in and left the two of them alone. Feliciano and Charice looked at each other for a few minutes before heading off in another direction, this time allowing Charice to battle all the monsters. To their surprise, Charice didn't seem to be forgetting anything at all.

"…well…this is weird." She stared at Feliciano.

"Y-you're not…forgetful?"

"No…huh, maybe being an idiot isn't so bad after all!"

"N-no…I-I think it's s-something t-to do w-with your weapon…"

"Eh? My poleaxe?"

A scream echoed out, and the two of them launched forward toward the source. She threw the door open and saw with shock that Kiku was defending the king and his entourage from the purple monsters. To her surprise, his sword was glowing as he was slicing through the clouds.

_So this __is__ a weapon thing…_ "Hey, it's time to save the Queen!"

Everyone looked up as Charice stared slicing through the clouds with glee, revealing to them that she had a glowing weapon as well. The room was quiet for a while as Charice turned her head toward the entourage and saw that one of them was staring blankly at her, like he was out of it.

"…Li Xiao?" The girl was panicking. "Li Xiao!"

"He's out of it, da ze…" The guy with the curl was shaking his head. "After those monsters…"

"You have been fighting them with no ill effects?" Kiku looked at Charice.

"Yeah. Feliciano thinks it has something to do with our weapons, since he had something like this happen too." Charice pointed at him. "Then again, he only had one enemy."

"V-ve…I-I almost forgot t-the king…"

"Feli…" Ludwig looked up. "Could it be the weapon?"

"Maybe, but this is a cheap weapon so I have no idea what I have." She looked at it. "It does have Armagite, though."

"Armagite?" Kiku looked at it. "Well, if I look at this correctly, this is the only metal that we have in common."

"_**Seriously?"**_ Charice blinked. "That cheap-ass thing?"

"Yes…Armagite is being studied back in Kingdom Spades as having magical properties." Kiku stated. "The effect was determined to be rather minor, but…"

"Apparently Armagite keeps memories in place." She shook her head. "This is rather…interesting."

"Ve…a-any type of A-Armagite?"

"Maybe." Charice turned to Feliciano. "I have an Armagite ring, if you want it."

"V-ve? N-no, I-I couldn't…"

"Made it myself. Crappy as ever, but it might help if any type works."

"Um…a-all right…"

Charice placed a ring in his possession, watching him stare at the strange symbol that was on top of it. It was a strange loop of circles with a set of wings and what looked like compass heads on top. Upon staring, Charice laughed for a few minutes.

"That's supposed to be my logo! Personal business!"

"O-oh…"

"Wait…Armagite makes you immune?" The girl stood up.

"Maybe? We're not really sure." Charice turned her head.

"My fans have Armagite designs." She stated. "Perhaps I would be able to help."

"T-that's crazy." Ludwig stared at her. "Fans aren't…!"

"They're clouds, King. They might work." Charice chuckled. "Besides, worse comes to worse she could just give the fan to someone else."

"Hey, I have Armagite too da ze!" The escort of Kiku started looking at his belt. Wow, how dumb was he? "I'm in, I'm in!"

"King Katherzig?" Feliciano looked up.

"Unfortunately, I don't have anything made from that material…I'm just as vulnerable as anyone else..._dammit…"_

"W-where's my brother, now that I think of it?" Charice turned her head around. "Did he leave?"

"I'm not sure…I only know that he ran further into the castle…"

"Dammit!" She turned toward the door. "Roderich ran out too!"

"What?" The girl stood up. "That man…?"

"Yeah…I think he saw those monsters before. Anyone who wants to confront monsters that no one saw before with a face as straight as his _**definitely**_ means that he saw these before!"

"A-anyone with A-Armagite should…c-come with us."

"I think anyone left alone should come with us." Kiku stated. "It's not safe to be alone."

"All right…but someone should get the victim out of here!"

"I-it's Li Xiao!"

"Right, Li Xiao…" She looked at him. "How many monsters did he fight?"

"…five?" The escort blinked.

"…he'll be fine!" She laughed. "Just make sure you tell him his name or something!"

"Whatever works…" Kiku shook his head. "Lin Yi, you should hold him."

"R-right…" The girl lifted him up.

"Seeing as how the exit is already covered with monsters, we can't go that way…" Ludwig shook his head. "We'll have to go through the main entrance."

"All right then!" Charice clapped her hands. "Anyone who can fight surrounds the group! I know where the entrance is!"

**/=+=/**

They did just that, running around swatting off the monsters that were coming their way as they ran toward the entrance. It turns out that any Armagite that touches the skin also works as well as a weapon made of it, so Feliciano found himself more useful than ever. He was very protective of Ludwig, swatting away anyone who was getting close. It was then that Charice felt oddly lonely.

"Charice, right?"

"Eh?" She turned her head to the escort with the face in the curl. "What about me?"

"You know what? It's strange, da ze! I thought you were nothing like your brother!"

"Says who?"

"Says logic! You are a lot happier than he is. But you two seem to know how to keep your cool."

"Well, I panic easily. It's just that I have a weapon that I can use to beat people up without any ill effects, so no reason to panic as of yet." Charice winked. "Come on, you're an escort, you should know this!"

"That's just how I roll, da ze! Call me Yong Soo."

"Mine's Charice."

"Charice…hope your brother's all right."

"He should be…see this sun pin of mine? He has it too, and it's made of Armagite-"

She paused.

"_**WOOOOOOOW."**_ She turned her head. "Anyone here want to fight a whole bunch of memory-eating clouds? I got an Armagite pin you might like!"

"Um…can that clip onto a cape?"

"Sure, Katherzig." She grinned. "Though I expect it back in top quality!"

"R-right…"

Ludwig quickly pinned the sun pin to his clothes and headed further forward, slashing through the crowds with a blade…whip…combo…thing. It actually made Charice fear for her life…more so than the monsters, which is weird. Whatever, they were able to make it to the throne room when they heard screaming from up ahead.

"Roderich, you have to get out of here! You can't handle this!"

"This is what I was here for, Rizal…I can't just leave…"

"How sad…a man so engraved in his duties." A strange woman's voice echoed out. "Too bad…you have to die now."

A long scream jumped Charice forward into the throne room, where Rizal was looking at a floating woman with a huge cloud behind him. The woman had long platinum hair and a black maid's outfit…along with eight knives on her body, ready for use. Charice started panicking.

"Oh, look at that…the king decides to visit us." She grinned.

"No…" Rizal turned to Ludwig. _**"Get out of here!"**_

"Screw that!" Charice ran forward. "The king can run if he wants too. I'm staying here!"

"So dedicated to the king…" The strange woman smiled. "Fortunately, it is not him I am after."

Everyone blinked as she suddenly vanished in thin air. A scream echoed out again, and she turned her head to see that the woman had come out of nowhere and stabbed Feliciano in the back. Ludwig quickly started swinging, throwing her back. She started swearing before looking at the clouds being eliminated and vanished.

"You haven't seen the last of me…"

"…Feli…" Ludwig leaned to his body. "Feli!"

"…_ah…m-milord…"_ Feliciano smiled. _"S-she missed m-my vital organs…I-I'll be fine…"_

"I'll take care of this." Lin Yi knelt down to his level.

Nodding at what was going on, Charice and Rizal decided to take this opportunity to look at the monster cloud. They had vanished when the woman escaped, leaving Roderich motionless on the ground. Charice panicked at the thought of poking a dead body. Those things are usually freaking terrifying…with a magical realm there's always the chance of _**zombies**_…

"R-Roderich?"

The body stirred and moved, flipping over before making eye contact with the other two. That was when she noticed something rather strange about him: his gaze was oddly blank…

"W-who are you?"

**/=+=/**

**Yaaaaaay…another amnesia victim. God damn it, what's up with me and amnesia being cute (=+=)"**


	5. Recovery Time

**Hooray for clichés!**

**/=+=/**

It was a while before the castle was deemed safe to enter back into. Lin Yi started tending to Feliciano and the confused Roderich as the others started talking about what was going on. Of course, since this was "official business", Charice couldn't participate and instead was kicked out into the outer regions of the castle _(Rizal banned her from leaving on the off chance that some of the monsters were still out there)_.

She wandered through the area, seeing the maids and butlers try their best to clean up what they could save and at the same time tell fellow nobles that they were still going to be safe, that the King had successfully scared the monster away, and that…well, they were panicking too, so…so much for that.

After a few minutes, she decided that she would might as well wander around the gardens. Castles seem to have a really great fixation on anything plant-related, and the kingdom's garden is no doubt the prettiest one she has ever seen before. To her surprise, there didn't seem to be any form of damage when she walked in. Maybe those memory monsters seem to have a preference for not stomping daisies around and instead like to kill people. Strange preferences, but we'll go with that.

Charice sat down at one of the benches, next to the fountains, and watched as people slowly started trusting the outdoors to wander around again. As she looked up, she could see nobleman Mathias escorting a lady through the green maze that was there. She would constantly get lost in there, and as a result she gave up trying to solve it.

_I wonder who that woman was. She wasn't after King Katherzig, but Sir Vargas…_ She leaned back. _Why would she be after the Jack? The Jack is the lowest form of the trinity government system…thingy that they have. Or maybe she's going after him first before going to King Katherzig? He __is__ the valet, after all._

That's when she saw the clovers.

The first thing that hit into her head was that of Kingdom Clubs, with all their green…ness and mystery. The clover was technically the symbol of the Clubs, and yet for some reason they're the most mysterious of all the kingdoms that she knew. For one thing, everyone only seemed to know the King of the hand: Ivan Braginski _(King Braginski now, I guess)_. He's so confident in his safety that he said he didn't need the Queen and Jack, and that's when details start getting hazy. From what Rizal had told her, they were most likely executed. King Braginski was known for ruthlessness…

"What are you looking at?"

She jumped and turned her head, seeing the newly formed Roderich wandering toward her with the blank face that she expects out of all strangely created amnesia victim. He wandered in front of her and realized that she was staring at the clovers the entire time. He found himself staring at them as well.

"Do you remember anything?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Not much…the most recent thing I can remember was escorting you out of town and meeting up with…" He rubbed his head. "The Jack…what's his name…"

"Feliciano? And yeah, you weren't escorting _**anyone**_ at that point."

"…was that why I'm remembering that we got lost?"

"Yeah, of course." Charice laughed. Bad manners but nothing mattered at this point. "Anything else?"

"No, nothing. I tried asking everyone else if they knew me, but all they knew was that I came in just a few hours ago."

"You see? _**That's**_ what I hate about amnesia victims!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Every single amnesia victim pre-loss is always so cold and…_**mysterious**_ and…questionable that no one knows who they are, where they came from, all that jazz. So when the time comes for the amnesia to come in, they end up asking the same question that other people have been asking them the entire time! So you're just pissing off other people by asking the same question they've been asking the entire time!"

"…I'm sorry?"

"Nah, you didn't know." She grinned. "But what's up with the clovers?"

"Hm?"

"You seem to like the clovers a lot."

"I just…I feel familiar around them."

"…that's weird…" Charice grinned. "But let familiarity run through. Do you remember anything now?"

"…no…" He shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's good. Remembering everything at the same time will most likely hurt you." She waved her hand. "Look, I'm gonna go check up on Feliciano so you can wander as you will. Try not to leave the castle; the whole place is phobic about those monsters that attacked us."

"…right."

Charice nodded and headed out of the garden toward the quarters, leaving Roderich alone in the garden. He looked back at the gathering of clovers, seeing them sway with the midnight breeze and almost dance in a way that he hadn't seen before…right?

"_**Do you know about the four leaf clover?"**_

Roderich looked in the entire clover garden, his eyes lightly skimming the area, before realizing that he was staring right at a four leaf clover, hidden among everything else. Lightly, he plucked it from the garden and held it in his hand, feeling it dance in his fingertips. It was then that he realized that there was something underneath his glove. He lifted it off his left hand to reveal…

**/=+=/**

"What were the damages, Rizal?"

"Most of them have considerable memory loss, sir…14 dead." He looked on the desk in front of him. "Five of them are unharmed. Further interrogation revealed that they had traces of Armagite on them."

"So Armagite is repelling the effects…"

"If that's the case, we'll have to distribute Armagite among the soldiers." Kiku stood up. "Because of its cheapness, I suggest we distribute it among the people as well."

"Many people consider it fool's gold…but that is for the best." He turned toward one of the soldiers. "Send word out to the forces."

"Sir!"

"Rizal…what did you determine about the woman in question?"

"She has tremendous psychic powers, sir…she can't be human."

"Did she have glyphs?"

"No, sir."

"Then she can't be human…but the fact that she can hold a human form means that she definitely has enough power to do so…"

"Are you saying that she's working for King Braginski?" Rizal looked up. "That's a huge jump."

"No…I'm not saying that. But she is definitely from Kingdom Clubs." Ludwig nodded. "We can't rule in anything just yet…"

"Understood." Rizal stood. "My king, if I can make a suggestion…"

"What is it?"

"We should warn the other kingdoms about this woman and Armagite." He stated. "Before she causes collateral damage and perhaps a war."

"That's a good idea, but I can't go to tell them…this kingdom's barely holding itself together…Kiku, you have to stay as well. And yet only noblemen can meet with a hand…"

"King Katherzig." Lin Yi was at the door. "Feliciano has woken up."

The whole meeting froze as Ludwig quickly nodded and headed out to his room. Rizal couldn't help but follow him to the area, where he saw Feliciano talking quietly with Yong Soo and a recovering Li Xiao. The two of them looked up and saw him, quickly leaving the room and allowing Ludwig to talk to him.

"…are you all right?"

"…_yes…"_ He smiled, sitting up. _"T-that woman…she m-missed my vital organs, s-so…L-Lin Yi e-expects a f-full recovery…"_

"Thank goodness." Ludwig smiled. "I was worried that she did considerable damage…"

"_M-my lord…d-don't worry over a p-plain boy l-like me…"_ He stated. _"I-I am only a Jack…I-I'm not n-needed…"_

"Every man is vital to a kingdom's reign. Even one as weak and ordinary as you…"

"_M-my king…"_

"It's just the two of us…"

"…_Ludwig…"_

The two of them quietly shared a hug, leaving Rizal outside to observe what was going on. He heard footsteps walking up from behind, and he turned his head to see that Yong Soo was standing behind him, a quiet smile on his face as he turned to the door.

"I heard from Kiku that you need a noble to talk to the kings, da ze."

"I'm sure that there will be some exceptions, but that is what we have to do." Rizal stated.

"Well, take me." He grinned. "I'm from the noble line of Im, hidden in the depths of Kingdom Spades. I can at least get you into that kingdom."

"Right…and at the same time, we'll be able to get them to study the Armagite. They have the magic studies, right?"

"Yep. That's the place."

"Good…" Rizal nodded. "We'll leave tomorrow morning."

**/=+=/**

**Well, apparently I got two points of view here. I didn't think that'll happen XD**


	6. About to Set Sail

**You guys can keep handing in OCs if you want. I have a whole flowchart so that way I can figure out who's who right now.**

**/=+=/**

"Well…"

"Yeah. You're going to have to stay here tonight." Rizal nodded. "I'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

"Eh? Why?"

"The king has asked that we warn the kingdoms about this woman, in case she starts a war. Yong Soo has already guaranteed us an audience with the King of Spades."

"Oh…I see…"

"I'm sorry, Charice. But the fate of the world depends on us. I'm going with Queen Kiku's entourage."

"All right…that's fine."

Charice nodded as Rizal was called off by one of the knights, sighing and turning her head back to her room. She wanted to hang out with Rizal that night _(she's stuck there, after all)_, but after a while she decided not to complain about it. She wandered back into her room and saw that Roderich was standing at the edge of his bed, thinking.

"Still trying to remember?"

"Not succeeding in doing so." He answered, sitting down. "I've only gotten so far as my name."

"You remember your name?"

"No. The King told me that."

"So…let me get this straight." Charice sat down in front of him. "You remember absolutely nothing about yourself."

"No."

"Not even if you think about it?"

"Not a single detail."

"That's strange. From what I've been reading, most amnesiacs would remember at least the basics if they have a few hours to themselves."

"You shouldn't believe everything you read, Charice."

"But most of what you read is based off some form of truth." She pointed out. "Still…not remembering anything…eh, I guess don't worry about it for now."

"That's a change of heart, Charice."

"Nah, I was just remembering something. Most people with amnesia remember a few things after sleeping a night away." She waved her hand. "Oh, before that, I have something to give you?"

"Eh? What is it?"

"Armagite. The King declared that every knight have a bit on himself so that no memories are forgotten when those things come back."

Roderich watched as Charice plopped something in his hand before heading out to change into her pajamas for the night, complaining about having to finish that job tomorrow. He opened his hand and saw that it was a necklace bearing an empty crest. He blinked and stared at it, confused.

"Charice. Before you go."

"What is it?"

"What's with the empty crest?"

"Oh, that's where your crest goes later."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"I just figured that you might be some noble or something like that, so I thought that if you were going to have a necklace then it might as well have your family crest!"

"Why would you assume something like that just by what I'm wearing?"

"Not just that. Your voice sounds very…noble, if that's a good phrase for it…" She chuckled. "Better than a ring, I guess! Well then, I'll leave you to the night. Hope you get a good night's rest!"

Roderich said nothing as Charice closed the door behind her, leaving him alone. He blinked for a few minutes, confirming that he was alone, before looking at the gloves on his hand. He slowly pulled off the one on his left hand and stared at what he had found the last time: a beautiful golden ring with diamonds and emeralds resting on his ring finger. He lowered his hand and looked out the window, staring at the moon above them.

_I'm married…or am I a widow?_

**/=+=/**

"Rizal, it's almost sunrise."

He nodded as he headed on the ship behind Lin Yi. He knew that if they had actually left in the morning like he told Charice, she would definitely try to sneak onto the ship and follow him. He nodded as he followed Li Xiao on the ship, hearing the crewmen fix the ship for their early departure.

"Do you remember anything at all, Li Xiao?"

"A few things…but most of it is still hazy." He answered. "I remember my background…that I come from Kingdom Spades."

"We're going to head there right now, so don't try to remember too much until we get there."

"All right…"

Rizal nodded as the ship pulled anchor and finally headed out to the ocean. He turned his head to the castle and knew that the king was watching them head out to sea, holding the Armagite piece hidden delicately in his chest. This was a trip he had to do alone, without his sister.

_Forgive me, ate. But this is my duty._

He turned his head back to the front of the ship as it sailed into the heart of the sea. Before the sun decided to rise, he felt a strange chill down his spine, and he realized that there was a strange cloud in front of the ship…

**/=+=/**

"_**WHAT?**_ Are you serious?"

"Yes, Charice. Rizal left just before sunrise this morning."

"…_kuya…"_ She shook her head. "He might as well have said goodbye…"

"He didn't want you to follow him." Ludwig stated. "It's common for those of family blood to do something like that."

"Yeah, well…I would've had a good reason to come along."

She didn't have to say anything, instead turning her head to the blank-faced Roderich who was staring at the ceiling of the throne room. Ludwig stared at him for a few minutes as well before sighing and turning back to Charice with a sense of understanding.

"Roderich still doesn't remember anything about his past. Not even his age. And I don't want to risk leaving him alone."

"I see…I wouldn't leave him alone either…" Ludwig nodded. "Well then…I will give you a task."

"Eh? What is it, my lord?"

"Rizal has the duty of warning the kingdoms about this woman as well as finding out anything to know about her." He looked at her. "I want you to help him recover his memories."

"…well…_**that's**_ what I'm doing in the first place, right?"

"Not just that." He said. "When he came here, he said that he was going to give me a message. I want you to figure out what that message was."

"…all right…"

"I'll personally pay for the ship fee."

"Um…thanks?"

She turned toward Roderich, who was now listening into this conversation and was standing behind her.

"What ship are we using?" Roderich tilted his head.

"The first one you can trust. I leave the decision to you."

"All right."

**/=+=/**

The minute that they hit the city, they realized that the entire area was beginning to bustle with life. Roderich looked around and saw that Charice had headed to finish one of her jobs. He sighed and waited outside, looking up to see that there was a ship pulling up into the harbor. It was a strange golden color, almost like it was made of metal…

"Ah~! That ship! That must mean…"

"Charice?"

"It's Antonio's ship! We can go on there for free!"

She grabbed his sleeve and ran forward, dragging him along and to the harbor. Almost instantly, he looked up and realized that it was a pirate ship…yet it was treated as if it was any other ship. He stared at Charice in horror, something she laughed to.

"He's one of the king's privateers!" She answered. "Great friends with Feliciano!"

"I see…?"

They headed forward and saw as the ship anchored itself and the people went out to restock. A figure came out from the front, and they saw that it was a man covered in red: red hat, red jacket, red…pole…axe…crazy stuff. He looked down and saw the girl in front of him, and he beamed.

"Charice!"

"Antonio! Ah, it's so good to see you!"

Roderich blinked for a few minutes as they hugged each other and were chirping in happiness. Five seconds later, Antonio looked up and saw Roderich straight in the eye.

"Who's he?"

"Oh, this is Roderich! He has amnesia." She answered. "He has memory loss and we're supposed to be traveling around the world to find his memory. We're gonna ask you to use your ship!"

"Oh, sure! Anything for you, Charice!" He grinned. "Come aboard!"

_What's going on…?_


	7. On the Ocean Waves

The ship was nice enough. It wasn't like any other pirate ship he had heard of, and at least they were respectful to their guests. Still, he felt weird walking onto the ship with the shoes that he has on right now. They felt too…expensive, for some reason. He knew that someone was looking at him, and for any better sense of doubt they were probably after his shoes.

"Oh, I see." He blinked.

"Yeah, that's the horrible part." Charice pointed out. "And we have no idea if those monsters are going to attack random people instead of nobility! So you and your crew have to be careful!"

"Ahahaha~ you worry too much! The Armagite makes our headboard and windows, and everyone likes hanging onto something made of the stuff. Says it can bribe them out of anything when played right!"

"So everyone has a piece?" Roderich looked up.

"Of course we do. Cheap and pretty. We at the seas call it 'fool's gold'." Antonio nodded. "Though if what you are saying is true, it's going to be a lot more valuable than ever."

Roderich couldn't help but nod in agreement as they headed further into the ship, accidentally bumping into some pirates that were oddly giving him the googly eyes. He really wished that they were female. He really really wished for it. The door swung open in front of him and he found himself in one of the rooms, perhaps a cabin area.

"You don't have an airship?"

"Eh?"

"Airships are more practical these days." Roderich answered. "They're faster."

"Oh, where's the fun in that? Ships are supposed to be on the waters." Antonio laughed. "Besides, on the off chance that the ship is hit, we have a greater chance of surviving the attack!"

"Why's that?"

"All of us can swim!"

Roderich sighed as he heard a knock on the door behind him. They turned their heads to see a woman with a strange hat on her head and a long dress, but they could tell that there were blades underneath the skirts. Roderich shivered at the thought.

"What's up, Inez?" Antonio looked up.

"The guys came back and are awaiting your orders." She answered.

"Good, good." He turned to Charice. "Where're you two going?"

"We were planning on going to Lanboushi in Kingdom Spades." Roderich answered. "Afterwards we are going to head to the capital city of Ferrum."

"Ferrum?" Antonio blinked.

"He's talking about Chan."

"Ah." Antonio grinned. "Well then, we might as well head over there!"

"We're not intruding?" Roderich blinked.

"Well, we were planning on heading toward the islands first before Lanboushi, but if you're insistent on going there~" He stood up. "We can skip the islands. Full speed toward Lanboushi!"

"Aye, sir."

"While we're heading off…" Antonio grinned. "You guys want breakfast?"

**/=+=/**

Antonio led the both of them toward what looked like a kitchen, where there were a few people running around making the breakfast. Roderich looked up and saw that there was a man standing at the head of the room, ordering everyone around and making what looked like fifteen pancakes at once. He sort of looked like Rizal, now that he thought about it.

"Hey, Juan~!" Antonio laughed. "What's for breakfast?"

"The usual stuff." He called out. "Is that Charice with ya?"

"Yes it is! Her and her escort, too!"

"_**Hey, I'M escorting HIM!"**_

"Make more for them, would ya? Told the others to get extras for them!"

"Eh, fine enough. Hope the preppy guy behind you's all right with pancakes."

"Anything edible is fine."

"Then you got nothin' to worry about!" Antonio laughed. "Juan's the best cook out there!"

"Even if he isn't he's good enough." Charice laughed.

"All right."

The three of them sat down at a table as the ship headed out, eating the breakfast that was prepared in front of them. Roderich didn't seem to mind it; it didn't taste that horrible, but he was more worried about himself. What with Charice spouting off to Antonio just what their back story was.

"Ah…so this woman's going around attacking people?"

"The King thought that he might be after the other kingdoms, so he sent Rizal to warn them. Meanwhile, I'm here to make sure Roderich's safe while he remembers his past!"

"I'm not that useless."

"Yeah, he really isn't." Charice chuckled. "But he's so totally badass when he fights that I wanna hang out with him. Badass people tend to rub off on other people!"

"Aww…are you saying that I'm not badass, Charice?"

"No, on your count Rizal just didn't like you. In this case, no one's holdin' me back!" She laughed. "I haven't seen the world past Cuore and the woods around it!"

"No? Aren't you supposed to be traveling the world helping people?"

"I'm not of age. Apparently the head of the area said I should be 21 before they let me out in the world."

"And yet your brother is younger than you and able?"

"I know, right? That's what I use to argue my case." Charice leaned back. "That's when I realized that my bosses were somewhat sexist."

"Oh…that sucks…" Antonio laughed. "But nevermind that! You're here now, free from their clutches!"

"Yeah, of course~!" She grinned. "And having food that's fit for royalty~"

"Don't be that humble, Charice." Juan stated. "I'm not that good."

"You're better than half the people I know!"

The whole crew roared with laughter, leaving Roderich alone. As conversation erupted among the men, he looked at the plate in front of him. The food, while generic, tasted oddly familiar, and for some reason he felt as if he never had a conversation as lively and as happy as this before. _Just what was he in the past?_

"Captain! _**Captain!"**_

"Eh?" He looked up at the doorway. "What is it, Ana?"

"There's a cloud surrounding the ship, Captain…and it's brought us into nightfall."

"What did you say?"

"And some of the crew members…some of them seem to forget who the other crewmembers are!"

Antonio darted his head toward Charice and Roderich, who knew damn well what these things were. The two of them dashed past her and up the stairs toward the deck. Antonio grabbed his axe and walked after them.

"Order anyone that doesn't have Armagite on them to stay below deck! The ship will be able to protect them! The rest of you, all hands on deck!"

"Yes sir!"

**/=+=/**

**Inez**** is Andorra, a Principality between Spain and France.**

**Ana**** is Peru.**

"**Lanboushi" means Saphirre in Chinese.**

"**Ferrum" is Spade in Latin, the capital city of Kingdom Spades. The locals call it "Chan".**

**As such, "Viscera" is the capital city of Kingdom Hearts **_**(Latin for Heart)**_**. The locals call it "Cuore".**

"**Adamas" is Diamond in Latin, the capital city of Kingdom Diamonds. The locals call it "Diamant".**

"**Amet" is Clubs in Latin, the capital city of Kingdom Clubs. The locals call it "Klubok".**


	8. The Cloud of Misery

The ship was too quiet as the two of them hit the deck. If it hadn't been for those suffering the ill effects being evacuated underneath the bridge, Charice wouldn't never thought that anything was going on. Instead, she was surrounded by a thick purple fog, not unlike the one that attacked the castle. The Armagite glowing on their clothes was a sheer indication of this.

"The whole place is a gigantic rock, so the crew should be safe." Charice stated, grinning. "They'll be fine~"

"…I hope so."

"…you want to go downstairs?"

"No, I'm fine. It's not like I have anything else to lose."

Charice didn't know whether to be grateful that he was going to take the risk, or sad that he would say something like that so bluntly. She could hear those who were able to fight climb up onto the deck, weapons in hand, following their pirate leader as he headed to the top to see if he could see anything.

"Captain."

"What is it, Inez?"

"Our router seems to be broken. It stopped functioning."

"Say _**what?"**_ Antonio sighed. "Crap…if this thing wasn't here, I would've known where we were anyway…"

"…so we're all in a cloud monster…?"

Charice stared at everything for a few minutes before deciding that the only thing that she could do was swing her weapons around so rapidly that her arms started to get really tired. Roderich stared at her for a few minutes before seeing that there were tears in the cloud like she was ripping through it.

"I'm gonna go kill monsters here while you guys wonder what's going on!" She called to them. "Don't mind me!"

"…that's a good way to start!" Antonio laughed. "All right, everyone! Start slashing the cloud away!"

The entire ship knew that it sounded rather retarded, but no one really seemed to know what else to do, so instead they decided to go along with it and started attacking the air. Pieces of the cloud started falling onto the glowing ship, which was burning as the pieces touched the golden rock. At least the ship was immune to what was going on around it…

"Captain, sir!" Ana panicked. "The cloud isn't going away!"

"What the heck…?" Antonio looked up. "How big is this cloud?"

Roderich turned his head around, trying to figure out what was going on. From the back of his mind, he felt something stir and kick up something he didn't know he had. He rubbed the back of his head as he felt his blood boil and his skin burn like it was on fire. He grabbed his chest in pain; was there something there already?

And then his mind exploded.

**/=+=/**

There was just something scary about being thrown back by a gigantic ball of fire, but it happened to Charice. She barely clung onto the rail as she turned her head, seeing a gigantic bird on fire _(no, this can't be a phoenix because that would be a totally lame way to keep a story going)_ shoot a gigantic pillar of fire in the air, burning all of the clouds into the sky.

"W-what the hell is that thing?" One of the men screamed.

The whole boat began to panic as the bird started roaring in intimidation. However, there was one thing that Charice seemed to notice: despite the fact that it was roaring as if it was going to kill everyone in a millisecond, it wasn't actually going through with the plan. In fact, more than anything, it sounds more like he's telling the world around him to fuck off the boat or else he's going to kill you…or something like that. What was more surprising was the fact that while the whole ship looked like it was going to try to attack the bird, it didn't look like it was going to _**go**_ anywhere.

_Sheesh…if this is a monster sent out to destroy the world, it clearly doesn't seem to care about itself…_

Charice stared at it for a few minutes before realizing that there was a rather obvious tail feather that was touching the ship, as gold as the Armagite ship around it. As the ship continued to panic and carry their blades, she snuck underneath the wings and ran up right next to it. It didn't look like any feather that she's seen before, but it clearly looked like an ordinary bird, almost as if it was a rare breed that the world hadn't seen before. But then she realized something on the foot of the bird: was that a pin? And where did she see that before?

"…oh you have got to be kidding me." She looked up. _**"Roderich?"**_

Almost as if it triggered something, the bird screeched before combusting into a huge ball of fire. Charice jumped _(she was right next to it, mind you)_ before seeing that it was only shrinking into a smaller version of itself, descending into her hands. She stared at it as the bird shook its feathers and looked right at her. A strange gem was in its chest: a star that was held in place by some gold crest thing.

"…well, Roderich…it sucks that you have amnesia, because this would've made a rather interesting conversation topic."

The other crewmembers stared at Charice for a few minutes before Antonio realized that he might as well check the router to see if it was working. Fortunately, it seemed to be working perfectly well, but…

"We haven't moved?" He blinked.

"What is it, sir?" Inez looked at him.

"The cloud kept us in place…we haven't moved at all…and by the sun's location it's almost eleven…"

"So we were in that cloud for two hours?"

"This is weird…"

**/=+=/**

The ship was going full speed ahead, and by what Charice heard it'll be two before they reached the shore. She decided that she was going to go to one of the cabin rooms _(not hers, mind you, because this isn't an overnight trip)_ and sit down on the bed, holding the strange bird/Roderich(?) in her arms.

"Well, I haven't seen a bird this beautiful in quite some time. Not too many of them live near the capital." Charice started stroking his head. "You are one weird guy, Roderich."

The bird started screeching at her.

"All right, all right, you're not, I'm sorry!" She started laughing. "But seriously, compared to the rest of us on the ship, you're just about the weirdest one here. And that's saying a lot. At least I don't have alternate forms."

It jumped out of her arms and started flying around the room, twitching every now and then as if it forgot how to fly _(it's an amnesiac bird, of course it's gonna forget the first time)_. Charice laughed as it finally steadied itself and started flapping in front of her.

"Well, so much for just a simple memory of living in said-city, huh?" She stood up. "You're more complicated than even _I_ thought you were…and that's saying a lot, because I thought you were rather complex!"

If the bird could scoff, it would.

"Hey, you remember what this gem here does?" Charice stared at the one on its chest. "Looks rather complex for an ordinary gem addition, doesn't it?"

She started poking it, resulting in a massive peck-out to which she had to stop to shield herself. Once it stopped, well she kept going. Her finger pressed in the middle of the gem, and instantly the room erupted into a bright light…a soft one this time. She closed her eyes and found her finger pressing the middle of someone's chest…the chest of a rather annoyed young man.

"Will you please lower your finger?"

"…sorry."

"Thank you."

"Right…soooo…what that was back there…"

Roderich said nothing as he sat down on the bed, looking down as if he was trying to figure out anything that could help him figure out what that was. Charice could only stare at him for a few minutes before nodding.

"Sooo…you must be a Rengu."

"A what?"

"Rengu…supposed to mean _'ravage'_ in some old language, but whatever. It basically means you're not a human…though granted that this is the world where magic is plentiful and we have monsters the size of buildings roaming around backyards, you shouldn't feel so out of it."

"…a Rengu…"

"Don't worry too much into it. It's either that or you've been cursed or something…_**maybe by that woman!**__**"**_

"Eh?"

"That woman with the cloud monster things! She cursed you so that you would turn into whatever the heck you were on the ship earlier as well as take your memory away so that you think that you're an actual bird trapped in a human body! _**Oh, I'm onto that bitch…"**_

"Um, Charice? I don't think that can be it…"

"But curses are usually broken by true love's kiss, right? Because kissing someone you love accelerates the body's functions and pumps the curse out of your bloodstream, so…"

"W-where did that theory come from? It doesn't make any se-"

"_**ALL RIGHT! WE HAVE TO FIND YOU A **__**MAIDEN!**__**"**_

"_**EH?"**_

"What, you're complaining about it? You're quite a looker, you know. Choose any woman you want and they'll break the curse!"

"T-that's not what I was-"

"_**Whaaat?**_ Roderich is cursed?"

"_Oh god, not you too Antonio…"_

"Quick! We must sail quickly to Lanboushi! That city is filled with beautiful maidens straight for your picking!"

"No no, that's in Kingdom Diamonds! You know how much of a flirt the king is! _**Maidens all around!"**_

"_**FULL SPEED AHEAD!**__**"**_

"_**AYE, CAPTAIN!**__**"**_

"_Someone help me…"_

**/=+=/**

**Charice and Antonio are two idiots in charge of a boat and perhaps saving the world one city at a time. Poor Roderich XD**


	9. The Fishing City of Lanboushi

With the haste of the ship, they were able to get to Lanboushi a half hour earlier than expected. While Roderich was grateful that they did so, he wasn't grateful of the fact that they were dragging him out of the ship with even greater haste than before.

"W-what are you two doing?"

"Finding you a maiden! This curse is as dead and buried as it'll ever be~!" Charice chirped. "Don't worry; you'll be a full human in no time!"

"W-wait a minute…"

"Hey, do you think the curse would be broken with our help?" Antonio looked up. "Or does he have to do it on his own?"

"I'm not really sure, but I do know that sooner or later he's gonna be fully human again~"

"_**Just hold up**_ for a minute!"

They turned around and saw Roderich pulling his arms away and rubbing his wrists, a rather annoyed look on his face. Antonio could only laugh at the look _(because he's Antonio, and nothing else can be expected of him)_, with Charice tilting her head in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

"T-this isn't a curse. This is me." He answered, sighing. "I'm a Rengu like Charice said, remember?"

"…says who?"

"Me. When I became…_**that**_…it felt natural to me." He answered. "Like I've been in that form before."

"…so you're a bird then?" Antonio asked.

"Yes."

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"I always wanted a parrot~"

"_**I'M NOT A PARROT!**_ And even so, I wouldn't agree to something as stupid as that." Roderich cleaned off his jacket. "I have better things to do than…_**that."**_

"Awww…"

"Oh well, he can be my parrot~"

"Not you too, Charice…"

He was forced to follow them further into the town, where he felt oddly out of place in this area. All the people looked so different from when he was back at the capital; he wondered if there were people that were staring at him. Realizing that he wasn't fully human was starting to take a toll on him…

"Who do you think is going to kiss a parrot?"

"I'm not sure, but Roderich there is rather handsome so I think that any girl's gonna take the challenge if we ask nicely."

"_A-are we still doing this?"_

"Hell yeah we are." Charice turned around. "That's why we're heading to the nearest bar! Girls go to the bar all the time!"

"…guys go to bars."

"Not really, but-" She paused. "Unless you like that."

"No, Charice, I-"

"_**HOLY CRAP**_ you swing the other way!"

"_**No I-"**_

"_**QUICK ANTONIO KISS HIM AND BREAK THE SPELL!"**_

"Can do~"

"Wha-"

And that was the moment where Roderich lost the majority of his dignity.

**/=+=/**

"Well, so much for that. We're gonna need a female."

"_P-please no more…"_

"Hm…"

"What is it, Antonio?"

"Has Roderich eaten any chocolate cake recently? For some reason I can't get the taste out of my mouth-"

"_**STOP ASKING STUPID QUESTIONS LIKE THAT!"**_

"No, the last thing he ate was that breakfast back on the ship. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be manning your ship?"

"Eh? Oh, no, it's Inez's turn to do so."

"Hah?"

"That's why I was going to the islands first: I get a few months' break to walk on land for a while. After being at sea for so long, you get detached from the world- will that lady work?"

The three of them looked up and saw a person walking toward one of the stores holding a bear in their hand. She had somewhat long blond hair and glasses, and seemed to be wearing an outfit similar to a hunter. After a few minutes, she realized that someone was looking at her, and she turned her head to reveal eyes that were a light purple. She looked very pretty-

"Hola~ can you help me out?"

"_Um…sure? What's the problem?"_

"Can you kiss that guy behind us? He's cursed and only a maiden's kiss can cure him~"

"_**Will you **__**STOP**__** asking people about that?**_ I'm perfectly fine!" Roderich spat. "Besides, he's a man!"

"Eh?"

"_I-I'm not a woman…"_

"Oh, sorry about that!" Antonio laughed. "You looked so…womanly back there…you want to kiss him anyway?"

"_**IT DIDN'T WORK THE FIRST TIME!"**_

"…you never know…"

"Eh? Matthew?" Charice blinked.

"_Hm? Oh, Charice."_ Matthew looked at her. _"What are you doing here?"_

"I should ask you the same thing! What's a Ten of Spades doing not being in Ferrum?"

"Ten of…Spades?" Roderich stared at her.

"_Oh, I was just walking around, that's all. Lanboushi is a really great place in the Spade Kingdom to get seafood."_

"Yeah, that's true. Though the best seafood is in the Diamond Kingdom." Antonio nodded. "Ah, Diamonds…"

"…excuse me…" Roderich lifted his hand. "Ten of Spades?"

"What, you don't know the structure of government?" Charice blinked.

"You do?"

"Ha ha, Roderich. Yes, I do. The title of Ten is reserved for any sibling of the King." She waved her hand. "In other words, if the King has multiple siblings, there would be multiple Tens. Matthew is the only Ten here, so he's the sole Ten of Spades."

"Huh…would he be the Ace of Spades, then?"

"No. At least, I don't think so."

"_The Ace of Spades is the heir to the King's throne. I have to earn it if I want to be that title."_ Matthew smiled. _"For now, I just have prince status."_

"It's strange for a feudal system to work like this…" Roderich blinked.

"Well, it works to divide the kingdom up…there are only…twelve sides of them…most of them many don't know…" Charice blinked. "Huh."

"What?"

"I got confused already."

"Wow…"

"Hey, Matthew, how long have you been here anyway?"

"_I came here last night…earlier than expected."_

"Oh. Have you seen my brother Rizal? He left early this morning, so if you came here early you must've seen him."

"_I'm sorry…I haven't seen your brother. But the city is rather large and I might have missed him."_

"That is true…Lanboushi is popular for being a fishing city…" Antonio nodded. "Ah well, that must mean that he's already on his way to the castle!"

"_Um…I'm sorry, but why is Rizal trying to meet up with the King?"_

The three of them then realized that no one had told Matthew anything at all. So they decided that Roderich was going to tell him what was going on. He quickly started telling him about the woman that attacked the kingdom and the monsters she used to attack the kingdom. Charice was quick to add that the monsters take away memories for whoever didn't have Armagite on their body. Matthew soaked this all in with a nod of understanding, actually looking like he cared about what he was listening to.

"_That's scary…this definitely is something we should warn my brother about…"_

"My brother's most likely going to tell him, but I think it's a good idea to see if he's there anyway~" Charice grinned. "Off to the capital!"

"Right ho~"

"_Matthew?"_

"_Yes, Roderich?"_

"_Save me."_


	10. How to Head Toward the Capital

The four of them started walking _(two of them were skipping, guess who they were)_ toward the forest, charging toward Ferrum like they had the whole world depending on it. Antonio and Charice were skipping and chirping all the way down the road, leaving the other two wondering just what the hell was going on.

"They're rather…excited, aren't they?"

"_They're always like this, Roderich. It's part of the both of them…Charice the big example."_

"I noticed that…very simple, too…"

"_It seems stupid, I know…but for the most part it helps her concentrate. You know that simplicity ends up helping her because she doesn't think too hard into a problem."_

"But doesn't that mean that she ends up making poor judgments?"

"_Well…"_

"Hey, Antonio! Have you seen Ferrum before?"

"Yeah! It's a place filled with metallic buildings and magical research areas…I forgot what they officially called it, but…"

"_**QUICK THEN!**_ Let's find all the metallic roads we can find! Towns with technology _**always**_ has metal roads!"

"But what about Viscera? Their roads weren't metal, and they're somewhat advanced."

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"_**ANTONIO!**_ Find roads that are metal ooooorrrr _**WHITE!**__**"**_

"…I get it now…don't say anything."

The two of them sank down into silence as Charice and Antonio continued to parade through the forest like they knew what was going on. Roderich found himself fearing for his life; did the girl that the king had entrusted to protect him really going to be like this…**the entire time…?** As the path kept going and going, Roderich really started to worry. There would've at least been a sign saying where Ferrum was…

"_What no one really knows is that she's deeper than what she lets up."_

"Eh?"

"Wait a minute…" Charice turned her head around. "Matthew, quick question."

"_Yes?"_

"You're the King of Spade's brother, right?"

"That's what it means to be the Ten of Spades." Roderich answered, propping his glasses. "At least, that's what you've told me." _Even though I'm not really trusting what you're telling me now…_

"Well, seeing as though I've never met him…and I've only heard stuff from my brother…what can any of you tell me about him?"

"I heard that he's rather happy all the time~" Antonio laughed.

"_He really doesn't like making really small decisions around the castle. That's usually done to the Queen and Jack of Spades. Some people even say that the Queen and my brother should switch places."_

"Then why is your brother the King of Spades?"

"…_because…"_ Matthew rubbed the back of his head. _"Because our father earned the title and he was the Ace of Spades until he became of age."_

"Which means that he would've learned something about being a king even though he's a lazy bum…" Charice started walking forward. "And Ferrum is basically the capital of leading technology and magic, correct?"

"If what I'm hearing is correct." Roderich answered.

"Well then…with something as modern as technology advancement, we should be able to find where we should be going in a few seconds~"

Matthew smiled; she got it.

"Eh? What do you mean by that?" Roderich blinked. "Ferrum is supposed to be in the center of the continent! It could take us _**days**_ before we see the place; a bit more because we're lost."

"No we're not. We're on the right path." Antonio smiled. "Go this way and we'll hit the capital in minimum time."

"But we need to get to Ferrum now." Charice nodded. "My brother would've figured out how to get here early, but…"

"…wait…" Roderich turned to Matthew. "You went to Lanboushi from Ferrum in a day's travel, right?"

"_Yes."_

"But ho-"

"_**Found it!"**_

Roderich looked up and saw Charice staring at one of the trees, bearing a strange marking on it. He looked at it and realized it was a carved sign on the tree: **[FERRUM DUE NORTHNORTHWEST IN FIVE DAYS].** He had no idea why the sign was carved like that…in a tree, no less.

"Leave it to a king as easy-minded as him to make the sign this easy to spot." She chuckled. "Did you use this, Matthew?"

"_Yeah…it was the only one who could accept Kumajiro in the vicinity of the city…"_

"Wait…what?" Roderich blinked. "I'm confused…"

"Think about it, Roderich: this kingdom is the leading nation of technology and magical advancements. And with a king as curious as Matthew's brother, anything new that the people discover is automatically one that he wants to test out without a thought otherwise."

Charice tapped the tree and he heard it: it sounded like it was hollow steel. Instantly, the tree moved away and revealed what looked like a portal of some sorts with the sides opening like a door. All Roderich could do was stare at everything, utterly flabbergasted at what was going on.

"Um…Charice?" Antonio blinked. "Is it broken?"

"_It's still a prototype, so only those with the key can activate it."_ Matthew smiled, holding up his necklace and what looked like a blue magatama with a ten and a spade on it. _"Hold on, let me activate it."_

Roderich stared at Charice the entire time as Matthew went to activate the machine. Five seconds ago Charice was going around the forest wondering where the hell a road paved with metal was going to be, and here she was discovering a quick stop toward the capital. Was she really a genius and not a complete idiot? _She really was like her brother…_

"Soooo…who wants to go through the glowing blue machine first?" Antonio turned his head.

"Not it."

"Not it."

"_I guess it's you, Roderich."_

"_**EH?**_ W-why me? I'm not your guinea pig here!"

"Hey look at it this way~" Charice grinned. "I heard Ferrum is a beautiful place~"

With that note, he was shoved into the machine. Roderich only remembered stumbling forward before looking up and realizing that he was in a completely different area. Instead of trees, he was surrounded by gigantic buildings and what sounded like a river. He turned his head and walked out of the alleyway, heading toward what looked like a railing and looking down. Wherever he was, it was stationed on top of a hill like the Heart's Castle and was overlooking a beautiful riverside that headed out to sea. Why Lanboushi was the best place for seafood, he wouldn't understand…

"The place really is a marvel."

He turned his head to see that Antonio was standing behind him, adjusting his hat _(his…inhumanely big…pirate hat)_ and was looking out at the river in front of them. Roderich looked down at the river and saw a group of children playing in the water and splashing each other, the sunlight catching all of the splashes.

"Yeah, it is." He turned his head. "Why does Matthew have to go to Lanboushi? The sea's right there."

"Actually, that's a lake."

"A la-"

"What, you don't know the difference between a lake and ocean? You see, a lake is inside a continent and-"

"I know what a lake and ocean are…but it's just that the lake looks so big from here."

"Ferrum's really far from the Oceanside. The king placed a lake there so that people could have an area to see large bodies of water…plus it's a great place to hide the big place of magic stuff."

"What?"

It was then that they realized that they were surrounded by soldiers. They turned their heads and saw that they had no chance of trying to run away. From behind, they saw a huge man walking toward them. He had brown hair and what looked like a bandage over his nose, green eyes glaring back at them.

"You ain't going nowhere, you two."

"Eh?"

"Don't think I notice these things. How in the world did you two hack into a prototype teleporter system without so much as being a mage?"

"Now now…" Antonio stepped forward. "If you'll kindly allow us to explain-"

Before he knew it, a blur flashed in front of them, and he was quickly knocked out. Roderich looked up and saw his body crash onto the floor before feeling a huge bash on his neck and he crumpled onto the floor. Meanwhile the man could only sigh.

"That's a little too much, Wang Chu. They were just about to explain themselves."

"You haven't noticed it, Jason, but I had to." The man swept away his black hair. "The one with the glasses…he had an abnormal amount of mana in his body."

"Oh…I see…well, the magistrate might want to have a good look at this…" He looked at the soldiers. "Take them away."

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"Wow, did the portal really break down like that?"

"_At least it works now…we should tell the king about this when we meet with him."_

"That's true~! Let's grab the others and-"

"_W-what is it, Charice?"_

"Where are the other two?"

**/=+=/**

**Have a merry Christmas everyone~ hope you have just as much fun at your parties as I did writing this.**


	11. Breaking Out of the Prison Cells

His eyes fluttered open to reveal that he was inside a dungeon, dimly lit by a few torches. Antonio stood up and saw that he had lost his weapons and was chained to the wall. There was talk next to his cage, and he could hear the footsteps of what sounded like obnoxious soldiers walking toward his cage. They started laughing when they saw him trying to fight the chains.

"Don't try to get out of that, pirate." One of them stated. "Those chains are made out of pure Pitsat. That won't ever break no matter how hard you struggle against it."

Antonio looked down at his chains, seeing that there was a dark tint of gray on the chains and the cuffs that held him down. He looked back up toward the soldiers as they continued to laugh at him, almost as if they were enjoying seeing a pirate trapped with no way out. Meanwhile, he was staring at a corner of the small prison.

"Hey, do you know who he is, man? Do you know who he is?"

"Hah? What the heck are you talking about?"

"That's Antonio, man. I heard he's one of them strongest pirates of the seas."

"Oh, you serious? The Bloody Red Demon, the one who is said to have killed his enemies without lifting up a finger…"

"Well…what do you say to that, demon? You've escaped places before, but this is a prison cell of Ferrum. No one has ever escaped from these prisons…not on my watch."

Antonio said nothing, continuing to stare at the corner as if he was all alone and they weren't there. The soldiers quickly got annoyed and started rattling the bars until he finally turned his head and looked directly at the both of them. His eyes were a fierce green, intimidating them a little bit.

"I have a little question for the both of you."

"W-what is it?"

"Do they ever tell you soldiers _**how**_ I leave my cages?"

"…uh…"

"_**Maybe you should ask next time…"**_

**/=+=/**

Roderich only knew that he was pinned down on something. His eyes slowly opened and revealed that he was chained onto a table, and for some reason his back was killing him. To his horror, he realized that someone had forced his wings out _(in human form?)_ and had pinned them on the table like he was a butterfly. All he could hear was mysterious talk in a strange language. _Must be native to the land…_

"Ah…he's awake."

He looked up and saw that there were strange people wearing robes looking at him with strange fascination. He tried to move, but his nerves felt dead and he couldn't move his fingers. They continued to talk in the strange language as they headed forward and started looking at him. His jacket and shirt had been unbuttoned, revealing his stomach and the strange crystal that was on his chest. For some reason, he felt oddly naked. The mutters continued as he realized that their fingers were starting to reach over to the crystal on his chest.

"_**HEY! Don't touch that!"**_

Roderich had no idea why he made that remark, but it started the people around him. The muttering continued as Roderich realized that they wanted the crystal no matter what, and again started to reach toward it. One man placed a finger on it, and a strange sensation ran through his veins, almost as if he was touching his weak spot. After that, he realized that they were trying to pry it out. Once a fingernail got into it, his nerves started to burn with energy and he felt like he was about to explode. God forbid they're able to see his big bird form…

An echoed voice started to scream out, filled with fear, and all the people started to panic and leave the room, leaving the poor man alone. He desperately tried to get away from the cuffs _(but failed to get away with them)_ when he suddenly heard another person walk into the room. He had a thick dark green jacket on, a small hat on his head, and a strange shade of orange-red hair. What caught his attention were his red eyes: they were rather bright.

"You all right?"

"…you speak my language?"

"Don't worry about it now; we're getting you out of here. Your friend back in the prison cells is tearing everything apart and Matthew already told us that you were with him." He grabbed to the chains. "Damn…they had to grab the key with this…"

He was about to say something when he saw the man pick the lock and release him from the chains, pulling him to his feet and pushing him out of the door. He seemed to be in a rather futuristic hallway, filled with glyphs and banners that seemed to give it a majestic feel; but he couldn't look for sure, for this man was pushing him forward.

"My friend?" Roderich looked at him.

"The Bloody Red Demon. What, are you his prisoner or something?"

"No…just acquaintances…"

"Well, just so you know, if you see a huge form of destruction then you'll see your friend."

Roderich was about to say something when he looked up and realized that there was a whole section of the building that was completely demolished, smoke and fire littering the wounded bodies that were spread among the mass. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; was the place under attack?

"He must be close, then. The smell is fresh…"

"What smell?"

"I'm sure someone such as yourself can catch it."

Roderich was about to say something when he caught something: a strange smell of morning roses, more powerful than the smoke that engulfed the area. The strange man ran forward, forcing him to chase after him and seeing just how far the destruction was going. That's when he was seeing a strange pattern: _most of the damage was surrounded by plant life…_

He crashed into the man, looking up and realizing that they had found him. It was Antonio, all right, walking forward at a leisurely pace as huge vines shot out of the ground and knocked away anyone that seemed to be attacking him. Roderich had no idea who he was looking at. It was almost as if he was seeing a totally different person…

"Antonio!"

He turned around, the vines seemingly drooping down at his command, and he immediately saw the difference: since when did Antonio have golden eyes? The minute they made eye contact, the whole scene had changed: the vines had vanished in a blink, and his eyes were now a beautiful green as always. Roderich couldn't help but pause for a minute.

"Oh, you're all right! I was worried about you!" Antonio ran to him. "I was worried that something might've happened to you!"

"…I'm fine, really." _More worried being around you, though…_

"Oh, and who's he?" He turned to the man next to him.

"My name is Ion. It's a pleasure to meet you." He shook his hand. "I'm guessing you know this man?"

"Roderich? Of course I know him! He's my parrot!"

"Your…?"

"_**I am **__**NOT**__** your parrot!"**_

"Aww…I thought you changed your mind…"

"I changed my- _**what?"**_

Roderich had no idea what was going on. How can Antonio completely change everything that he was doing without so much as taking a breath and stepping back? He was about to say something when he heard some noise from behind him. They turned around and saw a strange man with long black hair and a weird purple outfit charge toward them with a small army, some of them containing Matthew and Charice.

"_**Heeeeeey!"**_ She waved to them. "Are you two OK?"

"Of course we're OK!" Antonio waved back. "What made you say tha-?"

He turned around, and that's when Roderich noticed a strange difference. He looked confused at what he's seeing, almost as if he had no idea that it was happening in the first place. After a few minutes of staring he turned back to Roderich, his head dipping low.

"…_Roderich…what was I doing just now?"_

_What in the world…?_

"Sir Yao!" Ion immediately bowed to the man. "What, may I ask, are you doing here?"

"I was aware that Matthew's entourage was here, so I came to check them out." The man with long black hair answered. "What happened, aru?"

"…I…" Antonio turned his head back to the damage.

"Someone was attacking just now." Roderich jumped in. "We didn't get a good image of who it was, but they escaped just now."

"…I see, aru."

Antonio looked at him in confusion as Roderich gestured him to keep quiet. Matthew seemed to catch the subtlety, but Charice didn't, hopefully allowing them to hide the damage that her trusted best friend had apparently started and yet couldn't remember. _What was going on?_

**/=+=/**

**Sooooooo…Antonio.**


	12. Going to Relay the Messages Now

The four of them were escorted by the strange man _(apparently he's the Jack of Spades)_ toward the castle. Roderich couldn't help but notice how more majestic it looked compared to the one back at Viscera. It spanned almost twice the height and had a rather bright metallic shine to it _(thank god the sun wasn't glaring directly at it)_. Charice seemed to enjoy the view that she was seeing, totally ignoring the fact that they had a military entourage with them. All of them seemed to have a cautious look toward Antonio, who still did not know what was going on. He was rubbing something in his hand with a blank look on his face.

"Wait…Yao? Why does that name sound familiar?" Charice turned her head to the guy next to her. "You have business with Kingdom Hearts?"

"You are from Kingdom Hearts, aru?" He turned to her.

"Yeah, actually."

"King Jones has made an offer of alliance that your king has accepted." He answered. "His hand was in need of a queen, wasn't it aru?"

"So…you're related to Kiku then?"

"You've met him?"

"He's really nice." Charice grinned. "Isn't that right, Roderich?"

"Eh? Who was that again?" He looked up. "Was that the man with the blade and the red robes?"

"…they all had blades and red robes, Roderich."

"Ahahahaha…maybe it's a side effect of having a parrot brain~"

"_**I AM NOT A PARROT!**_ And I was talking about the one with the short cut hair…with the thin eyebrows."

"Yeah, that's him. He's the one who talked to you when I was talking to the king." Charice pointed out.

"Oh, right. Him." Roderich rubbed the back of his head. "I'll remember that."

"Is something wrong with him, aru?"

"Yeah. Antonio keeps insisting that I'm his parrot." Roderich spat.

"Well, it's because you have no memories of your past and I want to help you remember~"

"_**By making me perch on your shoulder every five seconds?"**_

"Well…yes?"

"_God, someone save me."_

"I'll tell you with the rest of the hand. I don't want to repeat myself on a really long story." Charice pointed out. "Hope you don't mind."

"That's fine, aru. I really don't like hearing things getting repeated." Yao stated with a smile. "Does the Ten of Spades know?"

"Yeah, he knows of it. He's the reason why we got here so soon."

"And he trusted you, aru? What makes you think that I can trust you?"

"Well, I'm here to warn you guys about an upcoming threat that might be a lot less trustful than a parrot masquerading as a man and all the little pirate friends that are now thinking about carrying crackers around in case he gets hungry and moody~"

"_**For the last time, **__**I AM NOT A PARROT!**__**"**_

"Awww…"

The crowd fell silent as the group continued to move forward in the hall. Most of the warriors had moved away at that point, leaving the four of them, Ion and the Jack of Spades into the hall. Roderich looked up and saw the thousands of stairs that seemed to go up toward the throne room. As he headed up the final set of stairs, he realized that he was outside. Roderich turned his head and stared out of the balcony, seeing the gigantic city in front of him. The area looked beautiful, and he could still see the smoke coming from the broken area they were at.

"Keep moving." A soldier behind him pushed.

Roderich didn't say anything as he continued forward toward the door, seeing Yao push it open to the world's biggest throne room they had ever seen. They walked forward to see a man sitting on one of the thrones, looking rather threatening with his messy blond hair and the shining green eyes that seemed to glare into their souls. If it hadn't been for the abnormal eyebrows length/size/whatever-that-is, Roderich would've pegged him for a demon or something of the sort.

"What's going on, Yao?" The man looked up.

"These people here came with the Ten of Spades, aru." Yao pointed out. "They told me that they have a message from the King of Hearts."

"The King of Hearts?" The man sat up. "This _**must**_ be important, if they're sending ordinary people to relay this."

"_**Hey!**_ I'm not ordinary here!" Charice pointed out, flailing her arms and almost hitting Matthew _(poor, poor Matthew)_. "I happen to be the elder sister of the Army General, so I have some form of clearance to be here!"

"The sister of…?" The man nodded, staring at all the other confused faces. "You mean Rizal Pacquiao, the youngest general of written history? I see, you must be Charice then."

The whole group turned back to Charice, who was now glaring down the King with the most serious face that Roderich had ever seen, even more so than when she was staring down that weird woman that attacked them before with her brother by her side. She must really share the same blood with him.

"Charice Pacquiao…the older sibling of Rizal…" Yao blinked. "I didn't think she'd be this young…I thought she'd be a little older, aru…"

"…that's impressive…" Ion grinned as he rubbed his chin. "I didn't know he had a sister."

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"Wait, that's actually _**viable**_ information? Damn, I thought that you guys would have no idea who he was…"

"Then…why did you even _**mention**_ it?" Roderich spat.

"…on the off chance I got these reactions?"

"_Good enough…"_ He couldn't argue. "Though if you know him, then he must've crossed over here."

"Eh? No, he hasn't." The King blinked. "I haven't seen him in a long time."

"No? But he told King Katherzig that he was coming here first to tell his message…" Charice turned her head.

"Unless…that cloud monster thing ate him?" Antonio blinked.

The whole room stared at the three of them in confusion as they stared at each other in realization. The fact that they were trapped in it when they went out to sea was one thing: Antonio's ship was made from Armagite _(which was so cheap that it couldn't afford anything that could make it fly)_ and hence was immune to the monster's memory-stealing abilities. Rizal sure as hell had a piece on him, and so did his entourage…but the ship itself?

"_So Rizal never made it to Ferrum?"_ Roderich blinked.

"_No…no, that can't be true. Right?"_ Charice looked up. _"It takes days for someone to get from Lanboushi to Ferrum, so…he must be on his way here now…that's all."_

"_Let's not rule that out. I want to see him come here in case he is all right."_ Antonio answered.

"_Yeah…"_ Charice nodded. _"He'll be all right."_

"I'm sorry, but I like to know what you three are talking about."

"Sorry." Antonio looked up. "It's just that Charice here had left with Roderich on a personal mission after Rizal was sent by the King to relay a message, and she just wants to know that he'll come here safe and sound."

"Well, I'm pretty sure that whatever message it is, it'll be rather important." The man folded his arms. "You can tell us."

"_Sooo…who wants to tell it?"_ Charice turned to the two of them.

"_I don't know the whole thing."_ Antonio stated. _"It's either you or Roderich."_

"_I have more credentials. I'll tell him."_

"_All right. I'll fill in whatever blanks you forget."_ Roderich stated.

Charice nodded before telling the entire story to the man on the throne. She started off with the mysterious woman and the purple clouds that attacked the kingdom to the hit on Feliciano. She went with great caution when she started explaining the side effects of the cloud monsters, looking at Roderich the entire time when she talked about memory loss and pointing out that Armagite seems to repel the monsters' memory taking. The group seemed to be taking this with ease.

"So the clouds had reached as far as your kingdom…"

"Eh?"

"A week ago, something similar to what you were describing had attacked one of the cities not too far from here." The man on the throne stated. "There were no casualties."

"So the clouds attacked a city but forgot to kill people." Charice nodded. "Sweet."

"That's the problem. They were killed a different way." Yao sighed. "A horrible way, aru."

"…gutted out so that they bled slowly?"

"_**Charice!"**_

"What? People can live through that." She blinked. "Unless this isn't torture."

"No…no torture." The man sank back onto the throne. "No one knew each other at all."

They froze.

"The clouds were gone when Alistair and his men were able to get there, so all they did see were the people. According to his report, they were lifeless…dead." The man shook his head. "The men couldn't remember their names…the women couldn't remember their husbands…the children didn't even know the names of their parents…they were completely blank, unable to remember anything but the names of the men who had joined Alistair."

"Dear Lord…" Antonio shivered.

Roderich could only lower his head.

"At least now we know how we can protect ourselves." The man stated. "Yao, find the King and have him issue the order of mass distribution."

"Right, aru."

And with that, he turned and left the room with many of the guards, leaving the man alone with the five others that had stayed behind.

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"Wait, king?"

"_Yes, king."_ Matthew answered.

"But…" Charice blinked. "I thought _**he's**_ the King."

"No, I'm not. But I bloody well should be. I'm doing most of the damn work around here." He sat down. "I'm the Queen of Spades. Queen Arthur Kirkland of Kingdom Spades."

"…does that sound weird to anyone else?"

"Oh yeah, totally."

"_**ANTONIO! CHARICE!**_ At least try to be civil!" Roderich panicked.

"What? A male name and the word _'queen'_ shouldn't be next to each other in a sentence." Charice sighed.

"…all right…" Ion stared at them. "How about _mistress?"_

"That'll work."

"_**WILL YOU MIND?**_ Goodness, you definitely have the working mind of your brother but you certainly don't have all the capabilities of being one." Arthur sighed. "Though I thank you for the information."

"Of course." Antonio nodded.

"It's getting late, though, so I insist that you stay the night. Perhaps Rizal will come then." Arthur looked up. "Ion, show them to the guest rooms."

"As you wish…_**mistress."**_

"_**DAMMIT**__** ION!"**_

"…I like him."

"_Shut up, Charice."_

**/=+=/**

**And the madness continues!**


	13. Wandering the City of Ferrum

Despite what Charice had stated to the Queen, they weren't going to throw her into a dungeon _(thank god for that)_. Ion led the way, looking at the four of them to make sure that none of them were going to leave or get lost or worst yet Matthew gets kidnapped or something. Roderich looked around and noticed that the place was looking more fantastic and magical the further he went in.

"Mistress Arthur really seems to know how to run a kingdom." Antonio grinned.

"_Are we really going to keep calling him that…?"_ Roderich blinked.

"Of course. You see, Mistress Arthur is also in charge of the Magistrate. He's the head of anything magic related in the kingdom." Ion nodded. "On the other hand, King Alfred is in charge of anything technological in the kingdom and is very thrilled in being so."

"I see…" Charice nodded. "And Sir Yao is only in charge of protecting the King?"

"No, he has political status here as well. We in this kingdom have the strange mix of being the most technologically advanced and yet being the most religious as well. As a result, Sir Yao is the head of the religious branch in this kingdom."

"He doesn't seem to be like that." Antonio stated. "He seems to be more of the second-in-command of that Magistrate thingy you were talking about."

"No, he's not. He's a little lower than the Jack of Spades."

"Oh…all right…" Charice blinked. "He's lower than the Mistress of Spades?"

"_A-Arthur isn't a mistress…"_ Matthew shivered. _"He's the Queen of Spades."_

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"It doesn't really roll of the tongue quite as well."

"I much rather prefer mistress."

"Yeah, me too."

"_**DAMMIT YOU ALL!"**_ Roderich was flailing. _**"Just call him Queen Arthur!"**_

"Yeah, that doesn't really work with my…common sense."

"Dammit Charice…"

**/=+=/**

The three of them were shown their rooms _(convieniently next to each other)_ as Matthew and Ion waited outside for them to confirm if it was for their liking. It took them a few minutes, but after a few minutes of walking around the three of them were satisfied _(Roderich could not believe that Charice was that picky)_. The three of them left their guest room and stared at them.

"We'll take this." Charice grinned.

"_That's good."_ Matthew nodded. _"Those are the only ones that we have so far."_

"…seriously?" She blinked. "It's…a big castle…"

"_This is Alfred's call. He loves those rooms to be guest rooms."_

"…oh." She looked back inside. "…secret cameras? Traps to boiling water?"

"_**Charice!"**_

"No, that's not it." Ion stated. "King Jones did mention something about it, though…"

"Oh…I'm pretty sure I don't taste well with sauce…" Antonio blinked and rubbed the back of his head.

"_Well, I don't want to know if you do."_ Matthew chuckled. _"For the rest of your stay, you are guests in this castle."_

"…does King Jones even know that we're here?" Roderich blinked and tilted his head.

"We've made sure that he knows." Ion nodded. "But don't worry. Mistress Kirkland's really the main one in charge, and he's fine with you."

"Yeah. We can all trust Mistress Kirkland~"

"Ahahahaha~ we can indeed trust Mistress Kirkland~"

"_**He's not a mistress, you two! He is a **__**Queen!**__**"**_

"Like how you're a parrot?"

"_**FOR THE LAST TIME-**_ oh geez."

**/=+=/**

The three of them watched as Matthew left to see if King Jones had gotten the message, allowing Ion to show the three of them around town. The buildings were metallic and rose high above their heads _(much to Charice's amusement)_, and Antonio could only laugh at just how amused she was.

"Did you really never leave Cuore before?"

"No, not once." Charice turned back to him. "The buildings back there are so white. This is…so metallic."

"You say it like it was a bad thing." Roderich blinked.

"No, not really…" She grinned. "But really, what am I supposed to be saying at a time like this?"

"I guess _'this place looks cool'_, is that good?" Ion smiled. "I've never heard much praise about this city."

"Why? It's a great city." Charice turned back to him.

"I dunno, maybe it's because most of them don't like the king…"

"They don't?" Roderich blinked. "Why not? From what I can see, he's not making Queen Kirkland and his subjects suffering…"

Suddenly, he realized that there was something flying over his head. The four of them looked up and saw a figure hover over their heads and land safely in front of them, sporting a massive grin on his face and familiar blond hair flowing off his face. Ion could only role his eyes.

"…Matthew?" Antonio laughed. "Ha! I didn't think you were secretly so happy and…open~"

"No, that can't be him…" Charice blinked. "He lost cuteness points…"

"Dude, you guys met up with my bro? That's great! Gonna save me some minutes testing out this thing." The man laughed. "Name's Alfred, King of Spades!"

"…King of Spades?" Roderich folded his arms. "Should you be out here while your queen is doing the work?"

"Hey, our researchers are on the brink of a technological breakthrough!" Alfred pointed to his jetpack. "The thing that may finally give men personal flight!"

"Men shouldn't personally fly." Roderich quickly argued, making Charice turn her head. "They weren't created to be that way."

"Geez, you sound like Arthur. But relax, this is for quick escapes in case the castle's under attack by the Rengu!"

"The Rengu?"

The group stopped for a minute as Alfred fixed the jetpack.

"Yeah, those guys. I dunno why, but the Rengu around this area really hates us humans in this city." He answered. "I mean, we in the hand already made peace with the guys that live here and heck, we even allowed a few of them to live in the capital city…"

"Maybe they don't like the fact that humans and Rengu can live in peace?" Antonio shrugged. "Heck, if the war meant anything to them…"

Roderich turned to him.

"That was my father's doing, first of all. I already said that I wasn't going to do the same thing as he did. I shut down the sites he worked at. Heck, I rebuilt all of them!"

"…war?"

"Eh?" Ion turned to Roderich. "Why are you so confused? You're a Rengu, aren't you?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"Dude, really?" Alfred stared at him. "You don't look like any Rengu I know. You look fully human."

"Well, he is." Ion answered. "The Magistrate was planning on working with his crystal."

"His wha-?" Alfred turned to Roderich. "He's an Avis?"

"Huh?" He tilted his head. "What's that?"

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"And here I thought Antonio was an idiot."

"Ahahahaha~ha?"

"Shut up Ion." Charice waved her hand. "He was attacked by those cloud things and completely forgot everything."

"Oh. Well, let's not talk about the war so openly, kay? Some Rengu here don't really like talking about it." Alfred answered. "I'm gonna head back to the castle. Feel free to wander around."

Roderich watched as Alfred rose up and started hovering toward the castle, staring at how he was waving back and forward like he was drunk or something. He turned back to the people in front of him, seeing how Ion seemed to be extremely intrigued by what he had said.

"So you're a victim of the cloud monsters as well. How did you get your name then?"

"I had told my name to the King of Hearts when I visited him." He answered. "That's all I apparently told them, and that's all I really know."

"I see…that's not good." Ion sighed. "I thought that maybe you would have something that we can use to help the survivors…"

"Yeah…" Charice nodded. "So…let's go back to the castle."

They turned and walked back toward the castle, passing a few Rengu on the way there. Some of them seemed to glare at Antonio, but he wasn't so much as noticing a thing, instead looking at a wanted poster that was posted on the wall. They stared at it for a few minutes.

"Hey, what's this all about?"

"Oh, there's a Suco running around attacking humans." Ion answered. "They're claiming that it's a vampire, but I highly doubt that one would want to stay in a place as loud as this."

"…vampire?" Roderich turned his head. "Those things don't exist."

"Most of the time, they don't. Suco that have enough mana or gain enough strength usually turn into vampires." Ion stated. "The army's on it, so you don't really have to worry about it."

"…all right…" Roderich blinked. "Vampire…"

"…vampires are scary."

"Indeed they are, Charice…"

_Why is Antonio scared of vampires…?_

**/=+=/**

**Hooray for updates during college semesters~!**


	14. The Magistrate's Castle

"So you're indeed an Avis Rengu?" Ion turned to him.

"I think so…I haven't actually flown, last time I remember." Roderich answered. "Hovered, yes, but…"

"No? Do you even know how to fly?"

"I do…though I've only done it once."

"In human form?"

"Human…form? I can't fly like this! My wings aren't out!"

"Are you serious? Charice told me that you had your memory taken away, but I would at least assume that you would remember that part!"

"No, literally. I don't remember _**anything!"**_

"There has to be something you remember. Those cloud monsters shouldn't have gotten so much out of you."

"But they _**did.**_ I needed someone else just to tell me my name and age."

"Wow…you sound just like the townsfolk we found in Yi He. Though I'm grateful that at least someone knew a bit of your identity. Whole families lived in that city…never to find each other again."

"What are you going to do with them?"

"The Magistrate is going to try to see if there is anything they can do to get them to remember something." Ion answered. "If anything works, there's a good chance that they may work with you."

"I see…"

The two of them continued to walk down the pathway, ignoring the fact that Antonio and Charice were looking around contemplating about how much everything was and then wondering if they were going to haggle or resort to Antonio's pick pocketing skills. Roderich could only sigh.

"No one really pays attention at night."

"Huh?"

"You can try to fly in human form then."

"Are you _**really**_ going on about this?"

"No Avis Rengu should not know how to fly while subjected to a human form. You should know that." Ion smiled. "That's why I made sure your room had a balcony."

"W-wha-?"

"Just go with it."

Roderich blinked for a few minutes before pausing, making Ion stop and stare at him in confusion. That apparently caught Charice's attention, which in turn caused Antonio to stop and stare at him, wondering what he was thinking. He turned his head around in confusion.

"What?"

"You don't want the balcony?"

"Well, you have to say it so _**bluntly…"**_ Roderich stopped for a minute. "But…"

"Buuuttt?" Ion tilted his head.

"You…you said that the Magistrate is trying to help the victims of Yi He, right?"

"Yes."

"…is it all right if I see them?"

**/=+=/**

The building of the Magistrate was huge and really beautiful. As Roderich approached the area, Charice ran forward and stared at the huge archways that hovered over the pathway. The path seemed to cut right through the massive lake that stood behind the kingdom, and the branch was its own unique island. Heck, if it hadn't been for the escort Roderich would've thought that this was the castle they were looking for.

"Who works here?" Antonio blinked.

"Mainly magicians and apprentices, but sometimes technicians come in to study with us." Ion answered. "Most of them usually want to have their metals enchanted or at the very least build some of the machines we use. We usually call them magitechs."

"Wait…us?" Charice turned to him. "You _**work**_ here?"

"Yes. I am the second-in-command of the Magistrate, lower only to the Head Wizard Kirkland."

"…that means that you have magic abilities, right?"

"Yes, I do."

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"Please don't kill me."

"I'll resist the urge."

Roderich ignored the banter next to him and pushed the door open, showing off the gigantic inner hall of the building. There must've been at least three floors above his head, and in front of him was a gigantic fountain that bore a statue that he really seemed drawn to. It was a young man with wings on his back…how strange.

"Ow!"

"O-oh, I-I'm…I-I'm so sorry…"

Roderich turned his head and saw a scrawny man after he had just bumped into him. Instead of probably saying something normal, the man instead started mumbling something weird as if he had no idea how to react and then wandered away toward another part of the castle. He looked strangely pale at first glance.

"Who's he?"

"That was one of the victims." Ion answered, sighing. "We call him Carl; he seems to react to that name when we mention it."

"I see…" Roderich turned to where he ran off. "He seemed so scared…"

"He looked just as pale as you when the clouds left." Charice answered. "He really must have memory loss…"

"How much has he forgotten?" Antonio looked at Ion.

"I think, in his case, it took him a week to learn how to walk. Maria had to spoon feed him a while after that."

"Wow…" Charice laughed. "Well then! I'm glad that Roderich at least kept his motor skills intact afterwards!"

"I know! He gets to keep his rather elegant aura!" Antonio laughed. "Plus, it seems weird having to teach a parrot how to eat~"

"_**I AM NOT A-**_ oh forget this, you're never going to remember."

"Well, I did offer to help him with flying lessons, but-"

"_**I AM PERFECTLY FINE!"**_ Roderich sighed. "Seriously…"

"…but…" Antonio sighed. "If that is the extent of the memory loss, then…"

Ion gestured to say no more, instead escorting them to another part of the building. They followed the quiet young man until they heard a few voices in front of them. Roderich was the first to pass him, and to his surprise they were in another gigantic hall in the room. It was filled with people lying down on cots and dressed in farm rags, and the walls were colored with written glyphs.

"What is this place?" Antonio turned his head. "What's with the glyphs?"

"This place is the training hall. Many of the people who come here are those with magical talent who wish to be taught how to use them, and this is where they train their abilities. These glyphs are here to make sure that no spell that is cast here ever leaves the room. It's used for containment." Ion turned to them. "But in times like this, we usually use this place for a safehouse. Because of the glyphs, everyone here will be fine in case the city was attacked."

"Wow…Mistress Kirkland really knows how to think ahead." Charice laughed.

"Actually, this was King Jones' call."

"_**Seriously?"**_

"Beforehand, the Magistrate only had the woods around the castle to test their magical powers, something that ended up proving to be quite deadly." Ion checked on one of the people. "After a few incidences, the King ordered this room to be built, to make sure that something like it never happened again."

"What incident?" Roderich blinked.

"The usual…a spell goes out of control and goes after a wandering soul…" Ion sighed. "For magic has a mind of its own."

Roderich looked away from Ion and turned back to the people wandering around talking to the Magistrate. His eyes found themselves following a small child as he was holding onto the hand of a young woman with long, flowing black hair. She was talking to him in whispers as she was pointing to the people around them, wondering if he was going to remember his parents. He couldn't help but feel a little sad as they went through another round around the room.

"We're trying to help the children first." Ion stated. "Perhaps if they remember first, the adults will soon follow suit."

Roderich couldn't help but understand where he was going with this. No parent would ever forget the identity of their children…their own flesh and blood. No child would forget the hands of the two people who cared for them with their own lives. Either that or the cloud monsters have really taken everything away from them…

"There are so many people here." Antonio looked around. "Have any of them recovered anything?"

"No…we've only gotten familiar glances." Ion shrugged. "Still, it's better than nothing."

"…I feel oddly at home here."

"Roderich?"

"Surrounded by people who are just as lost as I am…" He sighed. "Even though I'm better off than they are…"

"…I think that's enough for now." Ion nodded. "We should head back to the castle."


	15. I Believe I Can Fly

No one let slip the fact that the four of them explored the Magistrate, and no one bothered to ask. As they walked into the castle, they saw a very loud King Jones having fun with one of the machines he invented, annoying a few of the nobles and even Queen Kirkland _(saying "Queen Arthur" just made things sound weird)_. Matthew was quick to notice them.

"_Oh, Ion!"_ He smiled. _"You're back!"_

"I figured that I might as well show these three on a tour around the city." Ion smiled. "Charice here in particular. She loves the city."

"Glad to hear that! I love hearing someone else saying how much they love the details." Alfred laughed, standing up from the machine. "This is the city of all our births…where dreams come to be realized~"

"You have to say it like that, bloody git?" Arthur folded his arms. "This isn't a wish-granting fountain."

"But this is close to it! We have everything that usually is associated with wishes: magic, technology…_**big walls…"**_

"A pond~"

"It's more like a lake, Antonio." Charice waved her hand. "Or a lake-bound ocean…whatever they're called."

"I think it's only a pond." Alfred blinked. "Um…now I'm curious…"

"Please don't think about it, my lord. Your brain isn't big enough to think about it."

"_**What did you-?"**_

"Pardon the king, you three."

"I pardoned him a long time ago, mistress~"

"_**Will you stop calling me there, Charice?"**_

"…but Queen Kirkland sounds weird…"

"Aaaaannnyyyywaaayyy…" Ion cleared his throat. "It's getting late. Perhaps we should allow these three to have dinner with us?"

"Why not? They befriended my bro, we might as well!"

"But Alfred, I don't think we can trust any of them. Not after one of them destroyed the-"

"If anything, we should worry about the girl! She's been eying Matthew the whole time they were here!"

"_Eh?"_

"Seriously? You noticed that~?"

"Ahahahahah~ you're having fun hitting on men, aren't you?"

"Maaaaaybe~"

"_C-Charice…"_

"I think we're better off not being together until we have to go for dinner." Roderich pointed out. "Someone drag Charice away."

"Can do."

"Ion, what are you- _**NOOOOOOOOOOO I wanna see Maple-chaaaaaaaaaan!"**_

"…maple?"

**/=+=/**

He had no idea why he was doing this.

Roderich stood at his balcony, looking down at the garden beneath his room. There was no one in sight _(at least, none he could see)_, and he was rather grateful for that. He stared at his back, wondering if willpower alone could help do…whatever Ion said can happen. What was it, _flying in human form?_

"I can't believe this…does my condition really make me so gullible?"

There was no way he could fly in this form. He was a human now; this is what it means to have a _**human**_ form, right? That basically means _**no wings, **_of course. So why did he seriously think he was going to get away with this? Maybe it was a problem of his…

"So…what am I supposed to be doing?"

Roderich stared at his back for a few minutes, wondering what muscle he should be flexing. After pushing a bit of his back muscles, he then decided that this was utterly stupid. The only thing he could do is turn into his bird image…and didn't he achieve that by pushing the crystal on his chest? He unbuttoned his shirt and stared at the image that appeared. Was it possible to use it himself? Maybe not, because last time he remembered he was in human form and his wings were pinned to the table…maybe this was possible.

"_**You know, Roderich…I'm glad that you're here."**_

He blinked, confused at what just crossed his mind. He rubbed the back of his head, feeling his hand graze something soft. He turned his head and noticed _(with shock)_ that there were wings on his back, similar to those in his other form…only bigger. They seemed to move like separate muscles, away from his back, something he quickly caught on. It was rather interesting, to say the least.

He flapped the wings for a few minutes before looking back down to the empty garden that was below him. Roderich turned his head toward the door for a few minutes, making sure that no one was going to come in, before climbing up the balcony _(why is he following Ion's suggestion?)_ and jumping off. Almost instantly, he was soaring in the air, the memories of how to fly seeping back into his head. It was a great feeling, to say the least.

_Though…whose voice did I hear just now?_ He thought. _When I was thinking about activating my wings, it just came up…_

Suddenly, he heard a gust of wind from behind him. Confused, he turned his head and saw that another winged person was flying a few feet away from him. His mind quickly hovered toward Ion, who gave him the suggestion to fly in a human form. _Maybe he wanted a flying buddy?_

"So the rumors I've been hearing about you are true."

"…Arthur?"

The figure flew closer to him, and he realized with surprise that it was in fact the queen, with his bright wings that seemed to reflect the moonlight off of them. He never really saw another person like him since his memory loss, so he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"You're a Rengu."

"Yes, that's right." He answered. "At least, that's what I know."

"Don't be so naïve. Wings are activated with memories, you know." Arthur flew next to him. "If you're flying now, that means that you're remembering something."

_So that voice is…_ "Something benign, but yes, I do remember something."

"Something benign is still something. Don't dismiss that memory so vaguely." He answered. "In your case, every one of them counts."

"…yes, I guess that's true."

"Now if you don't mind, you're going to have to land. Dinner is ready, and the last thing we need are wings that cramp up when you sit down."

"…they cramp when you sit down?"

"It's a long story…"

**/=+=/**

Dismissing them wasn't that hard, and soon they had quickly arrived at the dinner table where the others were waiting. The minute they sat down, Charice immediately started digging into the food, and Antonio quickly followed suit. Poor Roderich was wondering just what the heck was going on with these two.

"So, you guys likin' the food?"

"Course we do!" Charice grinned. "This is awesome!"

"It's high class food, after all~" Antonio added.

"Yes indeed!" Alfred cackled. "Eating anything, Yao?"

"I would, but you're eating everything aru."

"…oh…sorry bout that."

"Don't be." Roderich sighed. "Those two are eating everything else."

"I guess that's true…" Yao sighed. "Whatever the case may be, please don't let them eat everything aru."

"I'll make sure they don't."

Antonio could only coo in happiness as his way of breathing. Roderich could only facepalm at it. Granted, there was some explanation for it: Antonio was a pirate while Charice…OK, Charice had no excuse. Her brother was a general of the king's army, she should know better. Everyone was obviously thinking the same thing.

"So…have any of you heard of the vampire attacks?" Alfred looked up. "Everyone's on major alert."

"…I'm sorry?"

"Vampires don't exist here, my lord." Arthur rolled his eyes. "We're in the summer months, so even if they're around they would burn."

"Vampires actually burn in the sun?" Charice looked up. "I thought that part was made up."

"That vampires burn in the sun? Seriously?"

"No, that vampires die under the sun." She answered. "I figured it'd be something as benign as a bad red spot."

"We really don't know much about vampires." Yao looked at them. "All we know is that they're a branch of the Suco Rengu."

"Suco…"

"The bat-like humanoids of the Rengu species." Alfred leaned forward. "Most of them are rather secretive, so we don't know much about them. We just kinda guessed half our shit."

"_**My lord!**_ That language!" Arthur looked at him. "Show some respect to our guests!"

"…why?" Charice looked up. "He's the fucking king, so he's allowed to fucking curse whenever he fucking wants."

"_**Hey!**_ Don't curse in front of the fucking king." Alfred glared at her. "Show some fucking respect."

"I'll show him some fucking respect if he'll fucking show _**me**_ respect."

"I won't show you fucking respect if you keep fucking cursing."

"Then you stop fucking cursing."

"No I fucking won't."

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"I suddenly think you're awesome."

"And I suddenly think you're epic."

"I have to show you the technology wing after this."

"Totally."

And an unholy alliance was born.


	16. A Night Away from the Others

Roderich found the bed rather soft when he went back to his room. It was weird, considering the fact that he thought the bed was hard when he was lying down on it the first time. Maybe this was Queen Arthur's doing? Whatever works, he can sleep soundly tonight. He pulled the covers to his shoulders and looked up to the ceiling.

_This whole day's been weird._ He thought. _All of them concerning the cloud monsters that we've fought before…_

The only thing he could think about were those people staying in the Magistrate. They had such blank looks in their eyes, unable to find out who they are and if they even exist at all. Their sense of identity seemed to be taken just by being in there for too long. How in the world did he not turn up like them? He closed his eyes.

_Granted, I did tell my name to other people and I am starting to remember a few things, but…_ He sighed. _I was lucky. Maybe my Rengu blood was the reason why I can recall a bit of my past. Can I help them with the same method?_

He heard a tapping on the window, and opened his eyes. Roderich quietly turned his head toward the window, seeing a strange shadow on the other side of the door. It looked like he had horns on his head, and as he sat up he saw bright red eyes staring back at him. _And was he holding prongs…?_

"Who the heck are you?"

The man didn't answer, laughing strangely as he vanished into the wind. Roderich stared at the window for a few minutes before wondering what he was looking at in the first place. He knew that he should just go back to sleep, but there was something nagging him…like he had seen that man before.

_God, this is going to annoy me._

He stood up and headed toward the window, cautious about going out to the balcony to actually start looking around, and not being surprised not to see anything indicating human life. He sighed and headed back to his bed, lying down and staring back at the ceiling.

_Why is there a shadow over there-?_

He froze as he felt weight on his stomach, pushing him into the frame. For some reason, he wasn't able to push him off his body, he was too heavy…or was he this strong? Before he knew it, his shirt was being unbuttoned and there was a breath on his neck. Oh, that's just _**great**_. He's being seduced by-

_Son of a-!_

The bastard was biting his neck. Was this the vampire that Alfred was talking about? But for some reason, it wasn't hurting him. Instead, he was feeling…weird. He didn't want to admit it, but it almost felt like…what was that word again…? Pleasant? Beautiful? Ungodly awkward?

"_**Roderich…"**_

His mind was dissipating, but at the same time was as clear as ever. Something was coming into his head…that same familiar feeling…with someone on top of him as well…where did he feel this before? His mind drifted to the ring on his finger. Was it his…?

"_**Roderich…!"**_

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"Roderich! What's wrong?"

Charice quickly threw open the door, the others quickly running into the room. The window was wide open and the room had a weird, sweet smell to it. It made Ion hold his break and cringe, with Alfred charging into the room with a huge gun in his hand.

"_God, this smell…"_

"Dammit! I missed the vampire again!" He spat. "Roderich, are you allri-?"

He was on the bed in a strange daze, breathing heavily and looking away from the window. Antonio wandered close to the bed to see if his companion was all right, and that was when he noticed that there was a ring on his left ring finger, glowing in the moonlight. Then his gaze went downward…just as he regained consciousness…

"Roderich…"

"…_Queen Kirkland…"_ He rolled to his side. _"W-what happened?"_

"Um…I don't know either." Antonio wouldn't stop staring at him. "But…"

"But?"

"…you want to be alone for a few more minutes?"

"?"

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"_**Yes please."**_

**/=+=/**

Roderich didn't want to talk about it the next day. Alfred and Charice wanted details. What ended up happening was that he was leaning over the table as the two of them started jumping up and down like little children. Didn't help that Antonio was laughing the entire time.

"Never thought that vampires were your kink, Roderich!"

"_**They're not."**_

"Then why were you-?"

"_**I don't know, stop asking."**_

"This is oddly entertaining." Ion laughed.

"_**I hate you all…"**_

"But seriously, vampires do that?" Charice looked up. "Drink blood while making their victims…happy in a way?"

"That's what I heard." Alfred laughed. "But this is the first time that I heard someone being this happy afterward!"

"_Gee, I wonder why…"_

"…you did take a bath, right?"

"_Yes I did, Antonio…a long…long…bath…"_

Antonio could only laugh at his embarrassment as Roderich tried to distract himself from the little children at his side. The only thing that he could really figure out at the moment was the fact that another memory had popped back into his head. _Not a pretty one,_ mind you, _but one nonetheless_. And it was the same voice too…

"So…Roderich?"

"Eh? Yes, my queen?"

"How much blood did you lose?" He asked.

"…I'm not really sure…" Roderich rubbed his cheek. "All I remember is screaming…I think he was screaming in pain too…" _Maybe it's because he wasn't expecting my blood to not be a human type?_

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"This guy sounds more like a serial rapist than a vampire."

"_**CHARICE!"**_

**/=+=/**

**Don't ask. Seriously don't ask.**


	17. The Ring In His Hand

All Roderich wanted to do was to get away from everyone else. His only conclusion was to run to the garden behind the castle and hide behind one of the statues until the guards stopped looking for him. Even then, he wanted to cry and go into the fetal position so many times. Sorry if the attacker had a strange counter effect to his body…

_Maybe I should hide inside the castle…_ He sighed. _No, Charice is going to find me…I swear to GOD she is every-_

"Roderich?"

"_**GAH!"**_

He jumped a few feet in the air. Fortunately, the person that had found him was Ion, so he could relax for a few minutes. The man knelt down next to him as he watched the life slowly return to his body and the color to come back in his cheeks. If smacking them lightly didn't already help.

"_You can stop now."_

"You sure?"

"Yes I'm sure."

Ion could only stare at him for a few minutes before he started wondering if it was safe for Roderich to go back to the castle. After a few minutes of remembering King Alfred, he decided against that, instead drifting back to his hand.

"You don't have your gloves on."

"Of course I don't. If I had them on, they'll get dirty."

"Did you realize the ring on it?"

"Of course I did." Roderich stared at it for a few minutes. "It was one of the few things I had when I woke up with amnesia."

"Is that so?" Ion stared at it. "Looks expensive…like a wedding band for nobles."

"Nobles? Looks pretty ordinary to me."

"No, check this out. See the white stone in the middle? That's Abarona. It's really expensive and hard to get. And the fact that the Sanctitas is arranged like that almost makes it a noble's seal."

"Noble's seal?"

"Yeah. Most of the nobles usually have a seal that can be created with gems and stuff, usually to promote their powers or something like that…Mistress Kirkland mentioned something about it, but I have no clue…"

"Interesting…?"

"Yeah, if that's the word for it."

"You're really helpful, you know that?"

"But I didn't tell you anything."

_At least he figured that out. _"Anyway…what are you doing out here?"

"Looking for you."

_Well, that's just great._ "Well, you succeeded."

"You don't sound that happy."

"That's because I'm not. The last thing I need is for the King and _**that woman**_ to start bothering me again."

"About what, how you wet the bed?"

"_Don't bring it up again."_

"Why not? It sounds interesting to talk about. And it's only the two of us and I'm not going to dig too much into the dirty stuff~"

"D-dirty?"

"Well, that definitely wasn't-"

"**I get it."**

"So then…do you know anything about the ring you have?"

"The ring?" He stared at it for a few seconds. "It's an engagement ring."

"Seriously? You're engaged?"

"I think the better term is _'married', _but…"

"_**Married?"**_

"…I'm not sure…I can't remember everything exactly."

"So you know that you have a lady out there waiting for you."

"…"

"Unless you're implying that it's a man…?"

"_**It's a woman.**_ I just can't remember who, and…it bothers me." Roderich rubbed his temple. "I want to remember who she is, and I seriously am trying…it's just that I can't…really get an answer…"

"Well, you can't rush an answer to you. The more you stress at it, the farther away the answer gets." Ion smiled. "Calm down and you'll remember this person…man or woman."

"_**It's a woman."**_

"Not even a cross-dresser?"

"_**No."**_

"Well, that sucks." Ion could only shrug. "At least you have a significant other to look for."

"What, and you don't?"

Ion said nothing, leaving Roderich rather confused. He did look rather young, to say the least. His eyes were red _(pupils, not eyes in general)_ and his outfit looked rather…what was the word, _Victorian_ compared to the modern lifestyle of Ferrum. Then again, Queen Arthur seems to enjoy mirroring his way of dress…

After a few minutes, a few nobles had passed by talking about something that he could barely catch _(something about the care and safety of the victims inside the Magistrate)_. He turned his head and noticed that Ion was tensing up a bit, but it didn't look like it was from anger. In fact…_was his nose twitching?_

"…you're…?"

Ion turned back to him, and he noticed something weird about him.

"…not…?"

"_**YAAAAAAY I FOUND RODERICH!"**_

"_Oh shit-"_

**/=+=/**

Nonetheless, Charice was dragging Roderich down the hall toward the throne room _(much to his dismay)_ with Ion not helping him at all. He was seriously wondering if there was something mentally wrong about this poor little girl. No sane human being _(or even a Rengu for that matter)_ can be this freaking happy…not without help from a few drugs or something…

"Come on, Roderich! Mistress Kirkland is going to start a search for the guy who assaulted you!"

"Sorry, sorry…" Roderich moved faster. _"You didn't have to drag me into the door, you know."_

"You weren't complying."

"There's a reason."

"Hah?"

"_Nothing…"_

Charice could only shrug as Roderich seriously started wondering why in the world she was calling him _"Mistress"_. She threw open the door to see the Hand sitting at their thrones, surrounded by their army. The sharpness of their swords made Roderich rather uneasy.

"_So there's a Rengu on the loose…"_ One of the soldiers mumbled. _"I knew the King shouldn't trust them…"_

"_Don't blame the damn race. Some of them are just as normal as we are."_ Another one spat back. _"Who else is going to do the dishes in the bars?"_

Roderich could hardly believe his ears.

"Will all of you please pay attention, aru?" Yao stood up. "The King is about to speak!"

"_Yeah, yeah, put all the crap on me."_ Alfred stood up. _**"Attention all of you! There is a Suco running loose among the city, grabbing any victim that he can have! I order you all to find any evidence linking all of these attacks together and find the attacker!"**_

"_**Yes sir!"**_

"_**Disband!"**_

All the soldiers ran out of the throne room, leaving the group alone with the Hand. Alfred merely took a break and backed up, seemingly proud of the fact that he had just commanded the entire army to do something. Wasn't that his job, though?

"You do realize that you had just sent the army into a major goose chase, my lord?" Ion asked.

"Yeah, I know, but we really don't have anything else to go on…and there is no way that I am going to wait for another victim." Alfred pointed upward. "If you guys are willing to help us find this guy, then I will be extremely grateful."

"We can do so while waiting for kuya to show up…" Charice nodded. "We might as well."

"I guess…" Roderich sighed. "Ion, can you find Antonio and meet us in the square? We'll find something together."

"Of course."


	18. Suco Attack in the Reigns

It didn't take long for Antonio to be found. In fact, they were already at the square by the time Roderich and Charice were able to find their way there. Poor Roderich had to wonder how. Without even asking what was going on, the four of them started to wander around the city, wondering where to even start looking.

"So…Ion." Charice leaned forward. "Anything you can tell us about the cases?"

"Other than a Suco is on the loose hunting down whatever they can get their hands on." Ion answered, looking at the traditional life around his city. "It's a typical Suco attack, nothing out of the ordinary. What's shocking about this one is that he's been feeding rapidly…one attack per night."

"A Suco is feeding so quickly? That's dangerous even for him." Roderich stared at Ion. "Don't tell me that he's close to going higher?"

"Eh?" Antonio looked at them. "What's a Suco again?"

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"They're vampires." Charice stared at him.

"Oh~ ahahaha, I can't believe I forgot~"

_Maybe he should spend more time on land._ Roderich stared at him in confusion. _But I thought that pirates were smart on the goings of land life…_

"You're somewhat right, Charice. The Suco Rengu are vampires, but not really." Ion turned a corner. "If anything, the Suco are closer to being humans than Rengu."

"Humans?" Roderich turned to him. "Then why are they called Rengu?"

"The reason why they're Rengu is because they have abilities similar to that of the other species, as well as them being hereditary. They're more like super humans than a different species." Ion stood quietly. "They operate like a human being, until they have a taste of human blood. It's only then that they gain the abilities of the Rengu."

"So they obtain Rengu status by drinking blood." Roderich stared. "That sounds hard."

"And illegal. Suco are forbidden in hunting humans for their blood. However, they are allowed to feed off of animal blood, as well as any human that are willing to be so." Ion kept walking. "There are hundreds of laws just to be legally seen as a willing donor, so most people just abandon the process and do it privately."

"But don't the Suco need human blood?" Antonio asked. "Vampires need blood, of course!"

"Vampires, yes. Suco, no. If a Suco doesn't have blood, they merely don't have super human strength. There are many Suco out there that are living ordinary human lives." Ion shrugged. "In fact, many of them don't even know that they are even a Rengu!"

"Seriously?"

"The only way to know that you're a Suco is if you drink human blood, so…" Ion shrugged. "No one wants to do so, so no one really knows how to figure it out. The queen thinks that maybe we could use magic."

"That makes sense, I think." Roderich stated. "So someone's trying to see if they're a Suco?"

"If they were, they would've known if they were human. They only need one drop to know the difference." Ion looked around. "Someone's going for an upgrade."

"Up…grade?"

"It takes a while, but any Suco Rengu can blow up into full vampire if he drinks enough blood. The more human the blood source is, the more of his humanity he keeps when he turns into a vampire. As such many Suco who want to be a vampire tend to aim toward humans." Ion looked at them with a chuckle. "It also is important to say that drinking Rengu blood is the same as animal blood."

"So drinking Rengu blood will make them more animalistic in nature…" Antonio rubbed his chin. "It makes the presence of humans a lot more important…"

"Indeed." Ion pointed out. "Of course, no human likes being around the Suco. It's just the _creepy_ vibe."

"So the Suco hunting is trying to be a full-blown vampire?" Roderich stared at him. "But they can't handle the sunlight and garlic and whatnot…"

"First of all, those were myths. The garlic is just because the scent is strong enough to blind one with strong senses, and the sunlight only drains the powers from a vampire. But the vampires get to keep their super human abilities without needing blood…" Ion closed his eyes. "However, drinking blood is an addiction in itself, which makes it somewhat worse."

"I see…" Charice clapped her hands. "So we just need to find someone that looks like he's about to be a vampire! So…pale skin? Red eyes? Albinoish?"

"Those are some characteristics, but depending on whether or not there is only one Suco or many, that may vary…" Ion stopped. "Unless…"

Roderich stared at him for a minute before seeing him dash forward with a thought running through his mind. The three of them followed the young man before he stopped, looking at one of the shadows in the foot of a building. The shadow was extremely dark, and nothing could be seen in it.

"What is it?" Antonio adjusted his hat.

"You don't see it?" Ion cocked his head. "Smell it, at least!"

"I don't smell anything!" Charice lifted up her nose. _"And my nose is usually pretty good…"_

Half a second later, Roderich already got it: the scent of blood, too faint for any human to catch. Before he knew it, Charice started gagging at the mouth and Antonio finally got it. The shadows were parted, and there was the figure of a strange man sucking a victim dry of his blood. Charice finally found enough wind in her to start screaming.

"There he is…!" Ion lifted up his cane. "Stop this instant!"

"Ah, an Imperialist dog…are you here on behalf of your pathetic king?" The man stood up, mouth covered with blood.

"My king is a wise man, thank you." Ion stood up. "And we will make sure that you are no longer a topping on my king's worries."

_That sounded so lame…_ Charice stared at him. _Whatever. Must be a rich guy thing._

The man stepped back before dashing away, forcing the four of them to run after him. Of course, Roderich had some superior speed _(must be a Rengu thing)_ and was able to catch up with the crazed Suco-wannabe. By the time he caught up with him, Roderich was all alone. The attacker grinned.

"So you were the only one who could catch me." He straightened up. "Your blood was rather…new, for my tastes."

"Nice to know you can figure out tastes."

He was hesitant in following with his threat, but before he knew it, Roderich extended his wings out for him to see, shining in their crimson orange. The Suco seemed scared of him, but to be fair Roderich wasn't expecting the wings to shoot out as quick as they could. They took their sweet time the last moment they did.

"You're a Rengu as well? Hah! You must be a dog of the Queen then!"

"I serve no king, queen or court. All I know is that you've been feeding on innocent people, and that is all I need to get rid of you." His wings flared up. "Don't worry. If you stop your ways and come with my peacefully, I promise not to hurt you."

The Suco would have none of that, and he charged forward to attack. They engaged in hand-to-hand combat, revealing that Roderich was severely under powered, and he was thrown across the field. Roderich landed on his leg wrong, and he found himself struggling to stand up correctly.

"_**All right, Roderich! We'll get your memory back, and I'm going to figure out if you're really someone's parrot or not!"**_

He found himself confused. _Charice? What was he doing thinking about her?_ A snap caught his attention, and the Suco was charging toward him ready to take off a bit of Rengu meat. Roderich had no idea what to do, and instead just found his hand smacking the air in front of him. Instantly, a loud *GONG* echoed in the air, throwing the Suco back and disorienting him. Roderich looked at his arms, seeing strange glyphs on them.

_Was that a steel drum? From thinking about Charice?_ He immediately thought that was weird.

"Gah…where did that sound come from?" The Suco glared at him. "I can't doubt you, can I…?"

Roderich had no idea what to do, so he instead found himself flailing at the steel drum to throw the Suco even more into an insane glitch. Just as he was about to run out of options, something landed between the both of them and threw the Suco off his feet.

"Ion?"

"I had a feeling you were more than just a parrot." He laughed. "You were having a good time with him, right?"

"Not…really."

"I figured as much." Ion flipped over his cane. "Why don't you sit this out? I'll handle the intruder."

Roderich stared at him for a few seconds as Ion walked forward toward the Suco, who seemed to be terrified at what he was seeing. He was starting to smell blood, and then five seconds later he was hearing Ion beating the snot out of the victim. The poor Rengu was startled at what was going on, noticing that Ion had already beaten him senseless…and his eyes were the brightest red he had ever seen.

"_**You disgust the name you try to possess."**_ He spat. _**"We do not feed endlessly, for if we do our source of strength would be destroyed…"**_

"Mercy…mercy!"

"_**In the name of the King, may punishment reign upon you…"**_

With one more blow, the Suco's head was in the ground. Roderich stared at him in shock as Ion looked up to him, the eyes shining an even brighter red before descending down to his usual crimson scarlet color. He smiled softly as he heard Charice, Antonio and the rest of the army charge toward them.

"You're a…Suco?"

"Keep it a secret?" He smiled, holding his hands together. "Do so and I'll tell you everything you need to know."

"…um…sure…"

**/=+=/**

**I know Romania is not usually a vampire in the original Hetalia terms. I just needed a Suco **_**(vampire)**_** in the story…and Romania was a good choice.**


	19. The Suco Rengu Ion

"Wow, Roderich! You were able to take down that Suco on your own?"

"Um…yeah." He rubbed the back of his head, looking at a surprised Charice. "Though it was going to back-attack me afterwards, so Ion was able to save me afterward."

"Well, that's good~" She laughed. "Then again, the Suco are just barely human beings, so I think someone like you could handle him!"

"You say it in such a demining way."

"Did I? Huh, sounded better in my head." She shrugged. "Whatever the case may be, at least the people can rest tonight. The hand sounds happy."

"I'm happy that's the case." He answered. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Well, I'm going to check in with Matthew to see if my brother came in yet. You?"

"Um…I'm going back to the magistrate." He looked toward the building. "I need to see them…"

"The victims? I don't think their condition has improved within the last couple of hours."

"I know. I just need to be around…"

"Oh…okay. That's fine. I'll just let the king know in case people need to find you or something."

Roderich nodded as he watched Charice head back into the castle to search for her brother. As he turned to head toward the magistrate, he couldn't help but wonder about those clouds that attacked the city. Perhaps they were all run by that girl that attacked the Hearts kingdom…but why? Was it really to spread chaos and disaster? Now that they knew the weakness to the weird demons, it's not like she can do anything about it...unless she already has another plan.

_Those clouds…whatever they were…they were able to take up an entire city. Perhaps she will try to take down everything before the message can get through…_

He slid open the door of the magistrate building and saw a young child wandering around, wondering where everything was. He was wearing his hair in two long, white braids and a beret in his hair, and by the look of it he looked no older than eight or nine. Roderich found himself walking toward him, making the boy shiver in fear.

"W-who are you?"

"I'm not going to hurt you, little one." He knelt down to his level. "I am just here to visit."

"Eh? You know someone in the magistrate?"

"…you…you could say that." Roderich found himself shrugging. "My name is Roderich. What is your name?"

"Um…the magistrate calls me Sebastian."

"Sebastian? That seems like a rather mature name for a child."

"I am not a child! I can take care of myself!" He pouted. "Soon, I'll be able to remember my real name and you won't have to worry about me!"

"…heh…you're so strong right now…I'm surprised that you are a victim with the rest of the village."

"Hah! Someone has to be strong, of course. Why do you care?"

"Let's say that you're not the only one who had suffered."

"Eh? You…you were a victim as well?"

"Yes. Albeit from a long time ago."

"Wow…" Sebastian stared at him in confusion. "That's crazy…memory loss from long ago."

"Well, I am remembering a bit of my past." He answered. "Perhaps that means that you'll remember something too."

"I will, you know. And it's going to be pure art!" Sebastian winked. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go investigate on my own!"

"Investigate what?"

"I won't wait for years to remember myself. I'll remember everything on my own!"

Roderich couldn't help but smile as Sebastian headed forward into the magistrate with his plans. Maybe being young was a good reason for him to pursue his dreams. He couldn't help but rub his shoulders when he thought that, almost as if he was thinking about his status as a Rengu.

"So talking to the locals?"

"Eh?" He turned his head. "Oh…Ion."

"What, I'm not supposed to say hi?" He smiled, a small fang sticking out of his mouth. "That's mean."

"…"

"What?"

"Don't you keep your…" He looked around. "…Rengu status to a minimum?"

"Oh, you mean this fang here? Nah, everyone thinks it's a genetic thing." He smiled. "No one knows except for the queen."

"The queen?"

"He was the one that made me second-in-command of the magistrate. Besides, the Suco usually gain magical properties if their human alignment doesn't have an elemental association."

"…what?"

"If a family doesn't have magical abilities, the gaining of Suco status gives a human that."

"Oh." Roderich rolled his eyes. "You could've just said that."

"I thought you'd understand lingo like that."

"Um…not really…" He stared at him. "Anyway, can I ask you about your…?"

"Suco? Sure. Ask away."

"Do you have some susceptibility to the sunlight? Even if it's just a little bit?"

"Not really…sort of." Ion shrugged. "Not physically, no. But sometimes my powers diminish in bright sunlight."

"Magical prowess?"

"Nope. I've trained long enough for that to stay constant even in the sun. But I won't be able to do anything…_**superhuman**_ while I'm underneath the magnifying glass."

"Oh…I see." Roderich nodded. "Second question: how did Arthur find you?"

"I went to him for help. My magical prowess exploded once I converted, and since then I've been his apprentice."

"…really?"

"He doesn't mind."

"…one last question…where do you get your blood supply?"

"Hm?"

"You know…the blood you need to supply your powers."

"Oh, that's simple. I just drink a cup or two from whoever's sleeping."

"…that's creepy. Don't you turn people when that happens?"

"No, of course not. In fact, _**I drank from you once."**_

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"W-where?"

"Somewhere on the arm. But it's fine. According to Arthur, my saliva heals any scar my fangs leave behind."

"…you…have healing saliva."

"I know. It sucks as much as you saying that."

"Does that present a problem for you feeding?"

"At first. But now it's like putting a needle in the arm: in and out with no issues. And I usually go for the sleeping victims because they don't really complain about the pain."

"…you're scaring me."

"I'm glad I am~"

"What are you-?"

"Op." He looked at his wrist. "Arthur's calling me."

"Is that a-?"

"Summon. Arthur created it with the king's technological advances."

"So it's magitek."

"Is that what the common man is calling them? Hm." He pulled up what looked like a documented summon. "Oh, look at that. He's summoning you as well."

**/=+=/**

"**Sebastian" is my name for Kugelmugel.**


End file.
